This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project to make the world's books discoverable online. It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover. Marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the publisher to a library and finally to you. Usage guidelines Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. We also ask that you: + Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for personal, non-commercial purposes. + Refrain from automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help. + Maintain attribution The Google "watermark" you see on each file is essential for informing people about this project and helping them find additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it. + Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liability can be quite severe. About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at |http : //books . google . com/ UTTAUni IJBHAHY LI IIJH Y HldtM.il ' tft.\ ^. 4 l^arbarlr College l^ibrarg. Complete Set Deposited In Littauer Center HAR 22 1341 HARVARD UN IVERSiTV FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT OF THB fiQFeaa of ItaboF Statistics OF THB State of Colorado 189M894. NELSON O. McCLEES, Secretary of State, Commissioner ex-officio J. W. BRENTHNGER, Deputy Commissioner DBNVBR, COLORADO: THE SMITH-BROOKS PRINTINO CO., STATE PRINTERS. 1894 Yr> ^^^^ — • (C X^7,o-i^ ■^ Ylj . 8^ (iwxMLM^ c^ ^^tb/Z\^'- S Complete Set DeposltiJ4 InUtkauerCenttf MAR 22 1941 J ORAKT AVBNUB. 500 CAPITOL GROUNDS L AVBNUB. 8» AVBNXTB. 8» BLOCK 6 500 BROADWAY. n .r Description of the Colorado State Capitol. The building is of the Corinthian order of classic architecture — a style admirably adapted to public buildings of like character and magnitude. It contains a sub-basement, a full basement, and first, second and third stories, constructed entirely of cut-stone, with surfaces smoothly dressed for all the exterior work above the grade line, and is surmounted by an elegant dome. The entire work- manship of the four fronts and dome is strictly Cor- inthian, having no unnecessary carving, but orna- mented simply by the embellishments demanded by the Corinthian order, which, like its two classic sis- ters, relies for its grand effects upon correct propor- tions and properly treated details, rather than elab- orate and excessive ornamentation. In the main pediment is presented an allegor- ical group of statuary, representing the wealth, progress and substantial interests of the state of Col- orado, and the various channels leading to their de- velopment. VENTILATION. This most important requisite to a public build- ing has been fully and intelligently provided for. By use of powerful exhaust fans, the foul air is con- stantly taken from every portion of the building, and forced directly into the smoke shaft. The vacuum thus produced is at once supplied with an equal amount of fresh air, taken at a point one hundred 6 STATE CAPITOI.. and eighty feet above the ground, at the comers of the dome wall, where the air is never contaminated with dust or foul vapors. The air thus received by the use of supply fans is forced through the fresh air ducts to every part of the building, and properly warmed by contact with the direct radiators before its admission into the apartments and corridors. HEATING. The building is heated by steam, generated by four steel boilers, which are located in the sub-base- ment. These boilers also supply steam for the oper- ation of the pumps in connection with the elevators, and for the operation of the ventilation of the build- ing. THE SUB-BASEMENT. In the sub-basement are located the boilers, en- gine, exhaust and supply fans, and ample room for the storage of fuel. The fuel room is reached by an underground passageway from the street, with suit- able tracks, so that coal may be brought into the building by this system, thereby avoiding the nui- sance of coal dust, which would result should other methods be adopted. Below the sub-basement floors which are concreted, are placed all the foul-air ducts, the steam supply and return lines, together with the drainage and sewerage of the building. THE BASEMENT. The basement story has a clear height of fifteen feet, and all of the apartments are well lighted. It contains rooms for the adjutant general, state geolo- gist and mineral cabinet, commissioner and inspec- tor of mines, horticultural and historical societies, storage and vault rooms for secretary of state, jan- itor and engineer's living rooms, wash rooms, and water closets. STATE CAPITOL. THE FIRST STORY. On the first floor are the apartments of the gov- ernor, attorney general, secretary of state, state au- ditor, state treasurer, commissioner bureau of labor statistics, superintendent of public instruction, in- surance commissioner, and state engineer. All the offices are provided with fireproof vaults, and ward- robe accommodations for most of them. The offices have been arranged and located with especial refer- ence to their business connections with each other, and the convenience not only of the officers who oc- cupy them, but of those who have public business transactions therein. The story has a clear height of tw€jnty-one feet, and has spacious and well-lighted corridors, extending the entire length and breadth of the building, and crossing at the spacious rotunda in the center. SECOND STORY. Upon the second floor are located the legislative halls, the supreme court room, consultation and private rooms of the judges, the state library, libra- rian's apartments, legislative postoffice, and rooms for legislative officers. The legislative halls and state library occupy the height of the second and third stories, as more fully described below. The representative hall occupies the west front, being 63 feet in length by 52 feet in width, and having a height of 42 feet. Connected with it are the rooms of the speaker and clerk, lobbies, and appropriate cloak and toUet rooms. Private stairs lead from the consultation rooms to the galleries, which are on the line of the third story floor. The ceiling of the hall is coffered and paneled, and the walls surrounding the room have fluted pilasters with Ionic caps on the floor line, and the same with Corinthian caps on the line of the gallery, with stucco cornices on each line of caps. The senate chamber is at the south end of 8 STATE CAPITOL. the building, and corresponds in height and charac- ter of finish with the representative hall. It is 64 feet in length by 37 feet in width, and has in connec- tion the rooms required for the officers and commit- tees of the senate, corresponding with those provided for the house. The state library — with the law library adjoin- ing — is located at the east front of the building, also occupying the height of the second and third stories. The state library is 67 feet in length by 50 feet in width, each tier of alcoves being reached by circular iron stairs from the office of the librarian. The law library, adjoining the state library, has a length of 48 feet and a breadth of 32 feet, with two consulta- tion rooms for attorneys adjoining, and forming a di- rect connection with the supreme court room. The supreme court room is also located upon the second floor, and has adjoining it private and consultation rooms for the judges, and offices for the clerk and marshal. Connected with the judges' apartments is a fireproof vault, for the deposit of records and other valuable papers. THE THIRD FLOOR. The larger portion of this story is taken up by the galleries of the principal apartments already de- scribed upon the second floor. The remainder of the story is occupied by committee rooms, offices for en- grossing and enrolling, which are admirably adapted to the purpose by the superior light afforded, and rooms for storage. THE ROTUNDA. The rotunda is a magnificent feature of the build- ing, and not only adds greatly to its beauty, but is of great utility also in furnishing an abundance of light to the halls and corridors. It has a diameter of 45 feet, being open from the basement to the dia- STATE CAPITOL. 9 phragm of the dome, and having balconies surround- ing it on a line with the several floors. The walls of the rotunda are of a proper finish for fresco orna- mentation, and may be suitably decorated at any time, and thereby made more attractive and interest- ing by representations of the men, or the industries or resources of the state, all of which have combined to place Colorado in the foremost rank of the sister- hood of states. In the walls of the rotunda, on the line of the several balconies, niches and recesses are provided for the reception of appropriate statuary. Promenades are provided around the exterior of the dome, and stairways lead from the attic floor to the lantern, affording to the sightseer an unequaled view of the surrounding country. THE CORRIDORS. The broad and ample corridors add largely to the interior beauty of the building. Those of the main floor have beautiful tile floors. On either side of the rotunda rise the grand stairways, constructed entirely of iron. SKYLIGHTS. The legislative halls, the supreme court room, the state and law libraries and the stairways will all be lighted by beautiful stained-glass skylights, the portions of the roof directly over these skylights being of heavy hammered glass, so that an abundance of light is admitted in each place where it is required. The dome will also have beautiful windows of stained glass. The building, when completed, will be the finest in the state of Colorado, and one of the finest capitol buildings in the country, of which every citizen of the state may be justly proud. lO STATE CAPITOL. The following is a further description of the building, with number and sizes of rooms, together with drawings of the several floors, by R C. Greiner, civil engineer, who laid off the foundations for the first contractor, W. D. Richardson: DIMENSIONS. FT. IN. North and Muth 294 4 Projections, 6 feet 5 inches each 13 10 Porticoes, 13 feet 5 inches each a6 10 Approaches, 24 feet 5 inches each 48 xi Bxtreme length 383 11 East and west— through centre of building 230 10 Porticoes, 13 feet 5 inches each a6 10 West frontage approaches 32 6 Bast frontage approaches 22 10 Sxtreme width 313 00 Frontages- East, Grant avenue 95 2 West, Lincoln avenue 95 2 South, Capitol avenue 160 5 North, Colfax avenue 165 5 Height of building, from grade line to gutter in upper cor- nice 86 5 Height of building, from concrete to gutter in upper cor- nice 102 6 Height of west pediment, from grade line to top 92 5 Height of dome, from top of concrete to top of statue 272 2 Height of dome, from grade line to top of statue 2$$ o Capacity of State Library- Volumes 25,000 Capacity of Law Library- Volumes -. : 13.000 CORRIDORS. Basement— ft. Length, north and south 271 72 feet south of dome 56 wide 72 feet north of dome 56 wide 36 feet south of dome 36 wide 36 feet north of dome 36 wide Length, east and west 199 In centre 70x70 West front 35 wide East front 15 wide Circular corridor in dome, diameter 4z STATE CAPITOL. II Pir»t Story- North and sooth, up to vettibales 372 7a feet south of dome 56 72 feet north of dome 56 36 feet south of dome 37 wide 36 feet north of dome 37 wWe Bast and west, ap to Testibttles, length soo In center 7«7i wide West front 36 wide Bast front x6 wide Circular corridor in dome, diameter 4a Second Story— North and south, length aoo Uast and west, length 75 Bast and west «, 56 wide Third Story- North and south, length X91 Bastandwest, length 66 Bast and west 56 wide HBIGHTS OP STORIBS. FT. nc. Sub-basement 14 6 Basement 15 a First story ai o Second story ai 4 Thirdstory ao 4 NUMBER OP ROOMS IN BUILDING. Basement 33 rooms Pirst story 45 rooms Secondstory 49 rooms Third story • 33 rooms Total 160 STATE CAPITOL. 13 Plan of Basement STATE CAPITOL. 15 f^„TpF1^ ■ • ^^"1?^ ■ ■J»p^. I — ^ ^ „ ^ Plan or First Sto"v 2i<* 4 3f3/r X Siv STATE CAPITOL. 17 Plan of5e.cond Story STATE CAPITOL. 19 PLANOFTHIRO S T O R V. ^ Letter of Transmittal. Office of Secretary of State, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Denver, Colo., November 30, 1894. } To the Tenth General Assembly of the State of Colorado: Pursuant to law, I have the honor to transmit herewith the Fourth Biennial Report of the Commis- sioner of Labor. The ofllcers of the bureau have devoted much time to various phases of industrial conditions, pur- suing their investigation in conjunction with depart- ments of labor in other states. This concert of ac- tion was mutually advantageous, owing to the gen- eral depression in commercial and manufacturing centers, and the abnormal status of the finances of the nation which has prevailed for nearly two years. Notwithstanding you are familiar with some of the disastrous effects of governmental action in de- monetizing silver, thereby contracting the volume of money and depreciating values, yet I desire to call your attention to the prostrated condition of the wealth producers of Colorado, due to the same cause. The limited resources of the labor bureau have not prevented the collating of abundant material for ser- ious consideration of the law makers of the state and nation. 22 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. The rapid fall of the scale of wages in every channel of labor; the marked shrinkage in values of agricultural products, commercial commodities and realty accompanied the repeal of the silver pur- chasing clause of the Sherman law, which were fol- lowed by industrial paralysis, the sale of national bonds and the increased labor purchasing power of gold, are all productive of vital statistics to a com- monwealth included in the nation's distress. Blessed by varied and bounteous resources, the producing classes of Colorado have been more self- dependent than those of other states; yet the com- parative figures presented suggest a condition that cannot be improved by the financial theories ad- vanced by Euroi)ean bondholders for the ameliora- tion of an American i)eople in enforced idleness. The report contains an epitome of the labor dis- turbances which swept the continent, showing Colo- rado more fortunate in escaping serious conflict and dire results than some of her sister states. I desire to express my appreciation of the dil- igence and faithfulness of Deputy J. W. Brentlinger with which he has labored during this eventful per- iod in the performance of his duties. The extent and accuracy of the statistics furnished attest that he has intelligently added to the warp and woof so suc- cessfully started by his predecessors. Trusting you will find in this report informa- tion of value in the enactment of laws for the -peo- pie, as well as references for your deliberations, I am Very respectfully, NELSON O. M'CLEES, Secretary of State, ex-Officio Commissioner of Labor. An Address. The following, addressed to the Industrial con- gress assembled in the city of Denver, in July, 1894, is published because it contains an epitome of the work done by this bureau and recommendations intended to promote the more efficient and economic working of this department, to which matter the attention of the legislature is respectfully solicited: To the Industrial Organizations of Colorado, assem- bled in Congress: Believing that you represent citizens who feel more directly an interest in the bureau of labor sta- tistics than* other citizens of the state, I thought it would be well to take the opportunity presented me by the assembling of this congress to lay before you the operations of this department and to give you a statement of the changes we advocate in order that this bureau may be more efficient in the promo- tion of the interests of labor. In March, 1893, we began a careful canvass of towns of Colorado in order to ascertain the number of unemployed in the state, and as a result se- cured the statistics from all the important towns, which gave an aggregate of about 8,000 persons, male and female, out of employment. This number probably represents fairly the normal aggregate of the unemployed in the state at that season of the year. After the slump in silver in June, 1893, I caused blanks and circular letters to be sent to 34 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT every post office in the state in order to ascertain as nearly as possible the effects of the demonetization of silver upon the industries of Colorado. About sixty per cent, of the blanks were re- turned and the information tabulated and issued as bulletin No. 2. While the results obtained were as satisfactory as could be expected under the condi- tions, they would have been much more accurate had the department been able to pay for the gather- ing of fuller returns. However, the report shows 45,000 thrown out of employment during sixty days ended August 31, 1893; 22,500 as having left the vicinity where they had been employed; 1,500 of whom received 17,307 meals through the efforts of the Denver Trades Assembly. There had been 377 business failures in the state with 362 attachments served by the sheriff of Arapahoe county alone, and seventy-two assignments for the benefit of creditors made by business men of this county. In July, 1893, the laws of the state of Colorado relating to labor were compiled, published and 1,000 copies mailed to labor organizations and working- men of the state. Blanks for obtaining information as to farm products, expenses and profits or losses in farming for the year ending November 1, 1894, were printed and many of them distributed person- ally from this office to farmers. It is hoped there may be enough of them returned from different parts of the state, so that when conpiled, a fair estimate of what the farmer has been enabled to accomplish during the past year may be obtained. Similar blanks have been widely distributed by hand to the tradesmen and laborers in the cities and from them I confidently look for returns which will enable me to lay before you in my report a table of valuable statistical information. But whether or not I ob- tain the desired facts depends upon you farmers and workingmen. I regret to say the state provides only |300 per annum for tlie collection of statistics — a BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 25 sum not suflBcient to canvass Denver properly, for ac- curate information, on any one of a dozen subjects whiich this bureau is directed to supply biennially to the legislature, therefore, I have not been able to pay canvassers for their services and have largely to depend upon the intelligent co-operation of the citizens of Colorado for the measure of success achieved by the bureau. In addition to the statistical work of the depart- ment, there has grown out of the exigencies of the situation other duties which now require the full time of one man to i)erform. The bureau has be- come a sort of agency for the collection of small debts. The hard times of the past year has made it impossible for some employers to pay their help, while others make the situation an excuse for not paying their just debts and seek to defraud the laborer of his hire. For the year 1893 our records show that 719 persons called upon us to assist them in collecting f 22,273.62. We collected about 60 per cent, of this amount, 40 per cent, of which was paid without the cost of a suit. During the year 1893, much time was employed in attending to cases grow- ing out of frauds attempted on the workingmen by the employment agents of this city. It has been necessary in several instances to begin suit against violators of law and to run them out of the business, which has been done, and now but very little com- plaint is brought against those remaining who gen- erally seem to be carrying on their business legiti- mately. For the biennial report of the bureau, much val- uable information has been compiled with regard to wages, lost time, expenses and amount paid out of savings for rent, showing the effect of the land owners^ exploitation of the earnings of labor. A table has been prepared from existing reports show- ing average wages in various trades in periods of seven years each, from 1856 to 1891, by which it is shown that from 1856 to 1870 wages regularly in- 26 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT creased in all occupations during the two periods of seven years each, and that from 1870 to 1891 wages have declined on the average regularly during the three periods of seven years each. It is a noticeable fact that our spread eagle orators when figuring out the increased prosperity of the workingman under the benign influences "of sirs, the best and greatest government ever taken under the protection of Divine Providence;" always date the commencement of their era of prosperity somewhere between 1840 and 1860, studiously keep- ing hidden the fact that our "prosperity" as meas- ured by wages, reached its zenith twenty-four years ago, and that ever since the condition of the wage earner has been growing steadily worse; as much from the increasing loss of time, as from decreasing wages. It is clear to my mind from the somewhat exhaustive investigation of the matter I have made, that any attempt to ascertain the relative condition of workers at different periods, which does not take into account the growing inconstancy of employ- ment, is very misleading in its conclusions. The logical conclusion to which the intelligent economist is driven, is that under existing social conditions, wages tend toward the life line, across which men cease to produce. The tendency is irresistable though it may not be continuous; spasms of prosperity for shortening periods of time may intervene and fur- nish the party politician with his statistical testi- mony of assumed prosperity, yet surely, irresistably, will the operation of persistent causes produce the ultimate effect of the impoverishment of the many for the enrichment of the few. Millions, who with superhuman effort, strive to keep up a home to shelter the poverty of their loved ones, to whom the grim specter of want is an ever present menace, and millions more who have gone over the verge; who have become social outcasts; to whom the joys of a home is but a memory, and to whom the thought of wife, daughter or sister, projects the shadow of a sin. These millions give the lie to those who boast BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 2^ of our prosperity. The only evidence of our advanc- ing civilization consists in the fact of the increasing numbers who, seeing through its shams and shame- ful disregard of human rights, seek to remove the cause. Believing that the examination of our so- cial system and the underlying causes which, in the midst of increasing wealth exhibit these alarming evidences of having produced increasing poverty, is clearly within the province of this bureau and that your best interests are served thereby. I beg leave to suggest to you the propriety of your demanding that the bureau of labor statistics be put in a con- dition for effective work, and, as a means to the end in view, recommend the following changes be em- bodied in a bill for presentation to the next legisla- ture: First — That the ofiftce of commissioner of bu- reau of labor statistics be made an elective office and that the term of office be for four years. Second — That the offices of mine inspectors and commissioners of immigration be abolished and the duties pertaining to those offices be performed under direction of the commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics by deputies appointed by him, and that he be entrusted with the execution of factory insi)ec- tion, child labor, state employment agencies and such other laws affecting the interests of labor as may be enacted hereafter that can properly be as- signed to his bureau.. Third — That legislative appropriations for in- cidental expenses of the bureau may be drawn from the state treasury upon the written request of the commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics to the auditor of the state for a warrant at such times, and in such amounts as the exigencies of the service may seem to him to demand; Provided, That he shall thereafter account by voucher properly filed with the auditor of the state for the amounts so exi)ended. 38 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Fourth — That the commissioner be authorized to lay before the legislature his estimate of the money required for his bureau, setting forth in de- tail, as fully as practicable, the items for which it is to be expended. X. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 29 Statistics of Farms, Homes and Mortgages. Compiled from Bztra Census Bulletin No. 71. During the ten years, 1880-1889, 9,517,747 real estate mortgages, stating amount of debt incurred, were made in the United States, representing an in- curred indebtedness of 112,094,887,793. The number of mortgages made during one year increased from 643,143 in 1880, to 1,226,329 in 1889; or 90.68 per cent., and the yearly incurred indebted- ness increased from f 710,888,504 in 1880, to f 1,752,- 568,274 in 1889, or 146.53 per cent With regard to mortgages on acre tracts, the number made during the ten years was 4,747,078, representing an incurred indebtedness of f 4,896,771,- 112. The number of these mortgages made in 1880 was 370,984; in 1889, 525,094, an increase of 41.54 per cent; while the incurred indebtedness increased from $342,566,477 in 1880 to $585,729,719 in 1889, an increase of 70.98 per cent. The increase was relatively larger in the case of mortgages on lots. They numbered 4,770,669 dur- ing the ten years, and the indebtedness incurred un- der them amounted to $7,198,106,681. From 1880 to 1889 the annual number made in- creased from 272,159 to 701,229, an increase of 157.65 per cent. During the same time the amount of an- nual indebtedness incurred increased from $368,322,- .027 to $1,166,838,555, an increase of 216.80 per cent 30 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT During the decade 622,855,091 acres were cov- ered by 4,758,268 mortgages. The number of acres covered by mortgages in 1880 was 42,743,013; in 1889, 70,678,257, an increase of 65.36 per cent In the case of lots covered by mortgages the in- crease from 1880 to 1889 was 198.25 per cent, the number covered by mortgages in the former year being 429,995; in the latter year, 1,282,334. At the end of the decade, January 1, 1890, the real estate mortgage indebtedness amounted to |6, 019,679,985, represented by 4,777,689 mortgages These mortgages are divided into two classes, as fol lows: mortgages on acres, 2,303,061; amount of in debtedness, f 2,209,148,431; mortgages on lots, 2, 474,637; amount of indebtedness, |3,810,531,554 Number of acres covered by existing mortgages, 273, 352,109; number of lots, 4,161,138. It is computed that the average life of a mort- gage on acres in the United States is 4.54 years; on lots, 4.75 years. Since mortgages in force were made, 12.68 per cent, of the original amount of indebtedness in- curred under them has been extinguished by partial payments. It appears that the real estate mortgage indebtedness in force in the United States is 16.67 per cent, of the true value of all taxed real estate, and untaxed mines. Upon the assumption that all taxed real estate can be incumbered for two-thirds of its true value without increasing the rate of interest to cover ad- ditional risk, it follows that 25 per cent of the real estate mortgage debt limit has been reached in the United States. In Kansas 40.24 per cent of the debt limit has been reached ; in New Jersey 39.27 per cent., and in Colorado 1 9.62 per cent. The smaller percentages are found in the South and in the Rocky Mountain region. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 3 1 The mortgage debt in force per capita in the United States is |96. The three larger states aver- ages (omitting the District of Columbia) are |268 in New York, |206 in Colorado, and |200 in California. The average rate of interest for all mortgages in this country is 6.6 per cent — 7.36 per cent, on acres and 6.16 per cent, on lots. These rates make the an- nual interest charge on mortgaged acres f 162,652,- 944— on lots, ^234,789,848; or a total of ^397,442,792. By personal inquiries in 102 counties in various parts of the Union it was ascertained that of the number of mortgages represented in the investiga- tion, 80.13 per cent, were made to secure purchase money and to make improvements. 32 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT m Q Q ^ < o t w o m o s < g 1 o ^ s M (fi tt P< ^ « xOO»-««O •««>«■♦ 5- si C8 O «0>0 lO'^'fOiOO «o^ !J ^5 jjvO 2 JIOOO lOO^iOO S Number ofloU by all mort- onlots. MNMMIHC R 1 ^ 5 g < •♦ «» «5 « NO- lO ^ -is G; 00 -pom JO 1 to **• o ! lo o» 2" 8 ? ^ £i; 8 1 1 ? ON s S * 5 j^ 1 ^ o t i eo ? jj jf |0 «o to o R «: a^ ►» •«" " ^ w 1 ft « ^ 5^ IS » » 3; § ? i; « ? ? o B g % & OS 1 i 3: •< «» W5 yfi NO M •o « «. o 'S ^ Pi ^ 11 ? 1 ^ s 1^1 8* g gat - CI M eo fl ro «^ oo" o> $ S-s^ t^ 1 1 5- ^1 1 1 1 i S5^ ■♦ *o t^ • **>•<•• «o f« !; «» mi 19 9i o 55 o 00 P: 8 ? Ot OS » 00 -a % s 5 f .? ^ S !> « "2 ? i ^ ^ «o 5 1 ? S VO «*> 00 ■^ a a; < o H O P4 go Is h8 i (0 O O P ;2 < « O Sf5 s I i o * > I . i P 5 fO z •s 8* 55 H < «» u {— »B WORJ 1 II a »2 1 b I 1 io 1 _..J BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 37 Some Facts and Figures WITH REFERENCE TO THE COST OF PRODUC- ING SILVER IN COLORADO. Colorado produced in 1892 24,000,000 ounces of fine silver, or over 58 per cent, of the total production of the United States. Of this 24,000,000 ounces, the two counties of Lake and Pitkin produced over 40 per cent. In these two counties the mining districts of Leadville and Aspen are located, known to the world as the two largest silver producers of the present time. Reliable data regarding these two districts ought furnish conclusions that would be beyond question as to the general cost of producing silver, for the reason that the quantity of mineral and con- ditions in these camps must give most favorable re- sults to the mine owner. Leadville produces gold, lead and copper as *T>y- product" of her silver mines; while Aspen's output is all silver except a by-product of less than 7 per cent, in lead, and because of this difference in the product of the two camps a comparison of the re- sults is interesting. The history of Leadville as a silver camp began in 1879, and it appears by the certificate of the clerk and recorder of Lake county that from January 1, 1879, to June, 1893, there were filed in Leadville 38 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT district 19,449 locations of mining claims. The reg- ister of tlie United States land office certifies to the issuing of 3,803 patents in Leadville district. By careful inquiry it is found that of these pat- ented claims only 166 have produced ore which has been sold, and of these 166 not more than 85 can be said to have paid in the sense of returning money expended with any profit. The number of mines now paying (June 1, 1893) does not exceed eighteen. These facts are from smelters, ore samplers* and ore buyers' records, and from individual inquiry, and are reliable. If we take the period of this history of Lead- ville district, 1879-1893, fourteen years, and make up a statement of the business of the district as re- gards its mines, we should have undoubted results as to the cost of its silver and other ores. So, keep- ing to the record as closely as possible, we charge the district with cost of its 19,449 locations as re- quired by law, viz: Each location, labor necessary for sinking discov- ery shaft and making location I ICO CO Survey for location lo oo Recording certificate i 50 I I" 50 19,449 locations $2,167,563 00 These figures, of course, exclude the labor and money of the prospector expended in searching for locations, and which would aggregate an amount largely exceeding the legal cost as above set down. On the 3,803 patents, the statutory fees and ex- penses are on each patent: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 39 Pee of surveyor-general $ 30 <» Pee for patent survey 7500 Pee for land oflSce 10 00 Pee for publishing notice 10 00 Pee for drawing papers 2500 Pee for land, average 8 acres 4000 I 190 00 3,803 patents I 722.570 «> In this item the |500 worth of work which the law requires to be done on each claim before patent can be had is not charged, as account is hereafter taken of it To protect titles to locations the law requires that until patent issues there shall be performed flOO worth of work on each claim in each year. Of the 19,449 locations, it appears that 25 per cent, are valid and subsisting at present time, on which annual assessment work (f 100) for an average of ten years has been performed — Making total expenditure on this account of. I 4,860,000 00 Add cost of original location 2, 167,563 oo Add cost of patents 722,570 00 Total I 7.750.133 00 The expenditure in prospecting and abandoned workings must remain wholly undetermined. Every- one who has any knowledge of a mining camp, or who has been interested in mining enterprises can testify to the large amount of money that has been expended, and of which no account or record is kept, and it must ever remain an unknown sum to be ad- ded to the figures that may be closely ascertained. In Leadville the mining and smelting operations have been made matters of record, and tables have been cojnpiled and published from year to year, based 40 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT upon data obtained at the time from original sources, and this data shows that there has been paid out foi^ Labor in mines and smelters in the four- teen years (i 879-1893) I 70,268,640 Por lumber and timbers 7«9S5iOoo Coke 6,521,040 Coal 7,028,520 Charcoal 3,020,000 Hardware and mining supplies 10,000,000 Machinery 3,500,000 Machine-shop work 1,875,000 Hauling ore j^ 3-603,250 I 113,771,450 Adding cost of location, patent and as- sessment work 7i750,i33 Gives a total of. 1 121,521,583 representing actual cost of discovery, location, pat- enting, operating, mining and smelting the ores of Leadville district during the fourteen years of its history, no account being taken of the money in- vested in smelters in the district Against this amount charge the district with the money received from its production of silver for the fourteen years, viz: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 41 Year. 1879 x88o 1881 i88a 1883 1884 1885 1886 X887 x888 X889 1890 X891 , 1892 Total Ounces sil- ver. Averafi^e price per ounce. Money value. 6,004.416 $1 13 1 6,724,945 92 8.993.399 I 14 10,252,474 86 7,162,909 I 13 8,094,087 17 7.873.249 I 13 8,218,771 37 9.590.172 1 II 10,645,090 92 7.078,951 I 01 7.149.740 51 8,314.593 I 06 8,813,468 58 8,166,145 99 8,084,483 55 7.148.968 97 6.934.498 96 7.895,275 93 7,342.605 75 8,596,034 93 7,994,311 62 7,061,093 I 04 7,343.536 72 7.535.526 90 6,781,973 40 6,676686 86 5,741,949 96 107,497,416 S 110,121,039 29 This total of yearly production (in ounces) is in excess of the figures given by the director of the United States mint, being derived from records of smelters, and probably includes some ores from mines outside of Leadville district, which will ex- plain the discrepancy. The total returns from yield of Leadville mines for the fourteen years in question, in gold, silver, lead and copper — Amount to the value of. $179,710,207 Deduct money value of silver product figured on basis (New York quotations) of aver- yearly price of silver, less 5 per cent, as received by mine owners 104,615,842 I^eaves value of by-products | 75,094,3^ 80 it appears— Total cost of production, fourteen years 1 121,521,583 I^ess returns from silver produced 104,615,842 Would show a loss of 1 16,905,741 42 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT But the *T3y-products," gold, lead and copper, as above, give a net profit of $58,188,624; clearly dem- onstrating that if Leadville district had been a pro- ducer of silver only, the money returned to the dis- trict would not have paid the cost of production on the basis of the prices received from the smelters, and the district was saved from loss by virtue of its incidental products of lead, gold and copper. If silver had been worth to the mines during these fourteen years its coin value, the district would have received, in round numbers, $131,500,000, or a profit on its silver production, provided no account is taken of the cost and expenditure in the district involved in ^^prospecting" and abandoned experi- ments. Again, if Leadville had only been a silver-pro- ducing camp, the same as Aspen, the cost of the to- tal silver product would have been over |1.13 per ounce. ASPEN DISTRICT. A comparison of the data from the Aspen dis- trict with the foregoing is interesting, and furnishes conclusions that can not be denied. The following concise and explicit report, pro- ceding upon same lines as the Leadville data, can be fully substantiated by proofs in the hands of this committee: Aspen, Colo., July 27, 1893. Dear Sir — In response to your request for data regarding the cost of silver production in this county, a meeting of the principal mine owners and man- agers was held on the 14th inst A complete organi- zation was effected, the county was districted, and committees, including about forty of the best known of our citizens, were appointed to secure as complete and accurate data as possible. Blank forms for re- ports were printed and furnished, and notices were given out through the public press requesting accu- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 43 rate and prompt returns from all citizens in posses- sion of the information desired, and the undersigned were appointed as a committee to compile the sta- tistics received and report the same. A strong interest in the work was manifested by all our citizens who are engaged in the mining industry, and a large number of reports have been submitted to the committee. Many of these were au- thentic statements taken from book accounts, and others were reliable and conservative estimates pre- pared by persons in possession of a direct knowledge of the facts. All reports have been subjected to care- ful scrutiny by the committee and, of the total num- ber received, 380 individual reports were considered in the preparation of the results submitted. Neces- sarily, in the short time occupied in the collection of data, the summary is incomplete, in that a large number of properties upon which large sums have been expended in development without returns have not been considered from lack of reliable data. On the other hand, properties which have produced largely, and at a profit, are all included, as the books of accounts in such cases are easily accessible. It may be assumed, therefore, with entire safety, that the actual cost per ounce of silver produced in this district will be somewhat above the result of the calculations herewith submitted. A categorical answer of the questions submitted is as follows: The total number of lode locations to date in the Aspen district, as certified by the county clerk and recorder, is 15,056. Of these, about fifty loca- tions are at Independence, and cover gold leads, leav- ing total number of silver lode locations, say, 15,000, The records of the county clerk's office show the total number of patented claims at 1,037; deduct- ing thirty-one patented gold claims, leaves 1,006 patented silver-lode claims. 44 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT The number of patented and nonpatented pro- ducers, including all claims which have shipped even one ton of ore, is 98. The number of profit-prdducing claims (or groups) is 18. The number of claims or groups now (June 1) paying, 10. The total production of silver to July 1, as re- turned by mine reports, is 34,68&,451 ounces. De- ducting 5 per cent as the loss which ensues from smelting, leaves 32,954,978 as the net production in ounces. The total cost of production, as tabulated be- low, is 135,380,507.22, or |1.074 per ounce. The items of cost included consist only of amounts paid for labor, supplies, plant, railroad freight, smelter charges, and a sum of about $425,000 paid out in lit- igation expense. Purchase price, interest, and the cost of construction of tramways, roads, and public power plants, etc., are not included. It will be seen that of the whole number of 15,- 000 locations but 380 cases are reported. After care- ful consideration and consultation with the mining engineers and others who possess special knowledge upon the point, it is assumed in this report that each location was made at an average cost of $100 for la- bor, $12.50 for surveying, and $2.50 for recording, or $115 per claim. From the same source of infor- mation the conclusion is drawn that of the original number of 15,000 locations, 6,500 are now ^Tiive claims," and that an average of not less than eight years' annual labor has been performed on each, amounting to a total expense of $800 per claim. From actual measurement by tlie deputy mineral surveyor of development work performed upon the patented claims of the district, it is ascertained that the average cost per claim exceeds $1,200. Other ex- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 45 penses of obtaining patent are conservatively esti- mated at |200, making a total coat to each patented claim of, say, ?1,400. From these estimates the following table is de- rived i 15,000 locations, at |i 1 5 each $1,725,000.00 • 1,006 patents, at $1,400 each 1,408.400.00 6,500 "live claims," at $800 each 5,200.000.00 380 claims reported 27,047,107.22 I35.380 507 22 Total number of ounces silver produced, 32,- 954,978. Cost per ounce, |1.074. It may be proper to further state that the reli- ance of the mines of this district is upon the produc- tion of silver alone. A few of the mines produce lead; the total amount received for that metal by the mines of the district being estimated at less than $4,000,000, no account of which is made in the figures above presented. No gold or copper Is found in the ore. Respectfully submitted. FRED G. BULKLEY, WILLIAM J. COX, S. I. HALLETT, Committee. Approved: DAVID R. C. BROWN, Chairman. ELIAS COHN, Secretary, P. T. FREELAND, D. M. HYMAN, F. M. COOMBS, E. M. RAY, D. W. BBUNTON, FRANK BULKLEY. 46 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Attention is also directed to the fact that, neg- lecting one of Aspen's mines of phenomenal richness, the totals given would be as follows: Total cont IS3.9o8,5zo. Average rent, $89.30, or x6 per cent of wages. Average lost time, i» weeks. Average working time, 40 weeks. Wages per week actual working time, I13.73; full time, |xo.s6. I/>st on account of lost time, $164.76, or 30 per cent, of wages. M79 persons. Average wages in Detroit, $S77-So. Average rent in Detroit, $106.92, or 18.5 per cent, of wages. Average lost time, xo.75 weeks. Average working time, 41.25 weeks. Average wages per week working time, $14.00; full time. Six. 10. I^ost on account of lost time, $150.50, or 26 per cent of wages. 4,979 persons. Average wages in eight cities, $498.33. Average rent in eight cities, $90.90. or 18.2 per cent, of wages. Average lost time in eight cities, 13.4 weeks. Average work time in eight cities, 38.6 weeks. Average wages per week working time, $12.91; full time, $9.S8> Lost on account of lost time, $173.00, or 34.7 per cent, of earnings. 13.757 persons. The foregoing statistics were compiled fh>m the report of the Labor Com- missioner of Michigan for 1893. BURBAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 63 Wages of Farm Labor. RESULTS OF NINE INVESTIGATIONS— FROM 1866 TO 1892. Compiled from Report U. S. Department of Asn^culture, 189a. The investigations of rates of wages for farm la- bor, nine of which have been made during the past twenty-six years, have been very complete in method and satisfactory in result. Beginning when labor was in demand to repair the wastes of war, the aver- age rates were high, gradually declining, finding lowest level in 1879, then rising to a normal status, which has been maintained with wonderful uniform- ity during the last ten years. The most important facts ascertained are those of wages by the month, both with and without board, for the summer season or for the year. In such wages are included a very large proportion of the hired agricultural labor of the country. Of the transient labor employed,, the most important is that of the harvest period. This is generally about 40 per cent, higher than transient labor employed for other purposes, and higher also than regular monthly wages in nearly the same proportion. There is a great difference in the relative proportion of trans- ient labor in the several geographical divisions of the country. In the South engagements for the year are the natural and customary rule of labor con- 64 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT tracts, and transient labor is only available to a lim- ited extent, and only desirable for excess of cotton- picking or for the trucking and fruit-growing har- vest exigencies, which are annually claiming in- creased importance. On the Atlantic coast market- gardening, orcharding, and berry-picking give in- creasing prominence to transient rural service. In the wheat-growing regions of the Northwest this class of farm labor assumes the highest importance and dominates the labor situation, as shown in the swelling rates of wages in Minnesota and the Da- kotas. BURBAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 65 AVCRAGt WAGE5 OF FARM LABOR Id66 1069 1675 1879 1862 I6&& lOM IflSO 1692 46 ^^' 'n +5 .-'' \ 44- ' * . 43 =^ru. 42 % 4» 39 \ \ 38 ^v 37 \ _^- • ^^^•fc. 36 ■^ ^^ 35 1 \ * ^^^K 34- 1'^ 33 m M^nj//y OtaTe^ 32 **--.. V* T * ^^<^ *•». ^ ^^-. 31 -^•v. ^f 30 % \ r «5 ••-^^ , 1"* "^0 raifi?^ ir fjr ^ -^r, *« y /6 --^.rt. V 15 •^^^ ^'^^ ' I't- '^ ^-'' 13 \ »;2 1 1 . 66 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT z o CO < W «2 Pi O W C4 H < W S >* £S H W P^ K g fH S >H n pq P n 2; o s p<{ w Ah 03 W <3 ^ 8 ^ ^ ^ % ^ ^ S- 3. S ^ «», ;< ;* if P> Jf s- 8 ? « 2 H? 'S i «> « ^ « S» 8 « M M S 8 « *§ ^ 3^ R 2 ^ s, a J5^ JJ, ? if S!, *8 S 5 K? 2 w M « t5 ^ {;> s- <£• 8 s ? ft <2^ S? 3 JS ^ <;? 5. ft « S ^ if 5, ft 'S & a J? 8 8 "* JO « ? 5> ^ S> K3 8 8 8 8 *S Si S. 8 8 8 ? S» R 5 « 00 0» Ov JO so J' W M •-• « p; « K2 8 5» J? §8 8 $ 8. ^ S >3- ^ ^ J? I? a 5r JJ ?? ^ a 00 M f c< ^ 2 \o t •8^ & 8 « S> ^ 8 5 » J? 8 » ^ 8 . i? 5 ro M J? ^ •8 5; ^ J? s oc 00 »* c< o C( 1 v^ 'g, S> S) K S ? 3 a 8 % ^ ^ )f? ^ 8 ^ s- ff if s- & jt J? a 00 00 oe to N C( 00 t 8 1? 5 8 S 8 :? 2 S> ft S, g, ^ 2 i? jr JT 8^ J^ ;r J? J? 's t^ 10 »o ^ fo 00 8 1 1 H s 2! 1 •0 . -3 CO c 1 '1 I to 1 a & 1 44 c IS c 1 1 1— 1 5 •1 1 2 ' J 1 ^ J > i 1 i BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 67 3-JlS>8 S 8 JI?J?^15 S.355'^2'5515 ;r 2* J? 8 Jo S* i*) fO fl M **i 2>2»'S<5s:2^i?8a88s^at:-8s» «« 8>8^^^S8S888$>2^a;^:i^R8 1^ rOJ'^'S wJ?2*M f^ctS «*> «o 10 »0 <-" tt M d (>< r« jr J? ?? ^g*S;8358SEJ>S8ft8,g'J5.88!?^ eg' 88 8*J5,«8.^5.S?«.5S»25i?S»JI?N85.J?KS, JG g»8 ?-?:?2^'22-2^^a?ra{?a-S'{(?8S{(? a- % ^ i55.??J58)9,?>5>5'8{GI?«'8aS.8iQ8888 ^ 2 M o s a iS •c .2 9 5. 2 8 5 « S ^ S S S 3 ^ 2 B o >. 68 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT V B o O CO < w (^ o Pi < n f^ O W CO O n H P O H C 1 . S, 8 : P. : : ! J5 ?: § J? : 5 i : i JU ^ 15 f 8. i 9> JQ : g> : : : J? S, g a i « i i i ^ft 5 OS 1 8 2- : 888^*S 00 1 ^ft8ft8l?8.8ft <2 t 8S-8g»8S>ftJ?5> v8 00 2 1 1 i 8 1 1 1 1 ; 1 ; 1^ o 1 § II II .2 > Is 5 < BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 69 w < tt w 0^ Pi s 1 >* w S DC a« H s >^ < n n » ffl H fH S z s S ^ Pi w Oh CO tt <: ^ joco ^2 o^oo t>>8!I?g>8S0?8N8::?{?5?cg5S5^ 89,!?8!^gj$,i588J:?>S-^5-8S- & s I 8 5 "O •5 f. S ^ > S 5 ^ s s 2 Pm Q S > ^ 8 5 & I i 2 o ^ o S FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT 13 V a o a o CO W w o (^ W n Eh o tt Oh CO W O O H 0, Q 06 < O P3 « < 1 S5 5; 5? s »o QO 00 00 00 2" O 00 00 f o S JO >8 8 00 »o S5 1^ 00 3; 'ft 1 J? s 2 55 ro 8 lO 8 o o »o 8 « o 00 2" «& « 'ft 'S JO 1 00 j;- $ «o 00 o 8 o 55 fO ^ ^ o ♦o 00 «o lO 8. fO ^ i 8^ 8^ o >8^ ? ^ N 5 ON ^ n JQ ft •o 8. f 8 o 'ft »o S ft to ? o ft •o s « 8 1^ ft 2- 5 8^ o M 5 ft 8 o ^ 8 JO 8 ft «o 8 ^0 5 « 7^ ^ •^ t o r: ft JO o a o •o 112 .2 8 8 o 8 J5 S ^ ill < S .4 H S 1 8 > g 8 .5? s a jq « O S 2 5 5 i § § S « i •I .2 ^ .2 ^ a 5 s BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 71 00 v^ 2 % n^ ^ s ^ •8, 'iS 00 o\ vg* ^S- ^8 « S a 2» 3 {;- J? 'ft 00 s 8 ?> s» g> {? J? 8 g>88J!?8a8^88^ w « r» ^8 2 588£»S>885,^8^ 888^89,8S.88$. 5 o t: I r 5 5 72 w > < < < •"1 i ! f^ c eS t s FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT >S?»8 «}C8.8J8^Rg>,S'2>2fg.g.^ 5^ ^ JJ^*^'^^^ «8 8 ^^%^%^^^il9t^S^ ^ % t S i I I 2 a V Jy 5 5 > S p^ ■ ^ 6 a a « ^ a £^ -a I o E BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 73 ^S-S'fi %^^%!i,^^S'S.%n^^S J^ g3.8S?8?5l?S-ft5)ft2?R- 5, g>a 'RR^ 8v<3'S8 2 S'^-'S a^a§-!S»« J;-^ R^U? ill :ii'i I S s i M i I i 5 a I 1 1 1 1 ! i 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 i I 1 1 1 1 1 3U H < H ^ M O 3 =e :§ a .9 S ^ssjiSz&is^ 74 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT n3 a; o a > < CO O < Q < o » O ; § ^ 2 ^ !( » 8. JQ 8 Ji 8 {55 00 •1 « i-i « «» *» 1 « ^ J? 5 X ^ . 8 M l-l M M w *» «» i vS ^ <5S ' 8 «» • «» t «■ «J???RS>^S'!i?{C ? 8 «» ^ L t J^ g» « ' 5 5» « ^ « ? . 8 M M M M M M M M M *» «» ^ 'C 1 s f^ •o 6 C8 V 1 8 1 .§ 1 1 •c 1 ^ o 1 1 i I a 1 5 I 2 a E i I E o ►» 8 ^ I 8 s « ** rt BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 75 Wages in Earlier Years. The first of the series of official investigations into the local rates of wages paid for agricultural labor was in 1866. Similar detailed and complete data for the whole country are not available for any earlier date but there are, of course, local records in existence in many districts, kept generally by farm- ers, more careful and methodical in their business matters than the majority of those engaged in that occupation, which, when taken together, will throw a considerable light upon the rates paid for farm labor in earlier years. With a view to bringing out these local records as far as possible, and consolidating scattered data into an authoritative statement, correspondents were requested to secure and forward records or copies of any records relating to rates of wages current for farm labor for any year or period of years prior to 1865. This request has resulted in the gathering to- gether of fragmentary records and local data, which before were unavailable or in themselves insufficient for use in any comparisons, and their consolidation and presentation in a form which makes them valu- able for reference, comparison, or analysis. It is not to be expected that material gathered in this manner from all sections of the country, repre- senting all branches of rural labor, made up of frag- ments, of value only when properly fitted into a* whole, can be complete and harmonious in all its ^6 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT parts. Its parts may fit and blend with wonderful accuracy, but there must be points at which the har- mony of proportion is disturbed. There are good reasons why there should be greater local variations in rates paid for the same services in different dis- tricts during the period under consideration than appear now or in recent investigations. In early days, when population was scattered and the means of intercommunication less efficient than now, there might easily be a surplus of certain kinds of labor in one section and a deficiency in another, giving in old records a high rate in one place and a low one in an- other not far distant. The results of the inquiry as to old records have been tabulated as far as possible and will be pre- sented by states or contiguous districts. Naturally such records are comparatively numerous in New England and cover a long period of time. That sec- tion was settled by a careful, methodical people, alive to the necessity of keeping an accurate record in de- tail of their business transactions. In Maine trans- ient wages, during the years between 1840 and 1860, ranged at about 50 cents per day, though in some dis- tricts there was a tendency to advance toward the close of the period. Wages by the month with board ranged from |10 to f 13, with a similar tendency to- ward a rise. The outbreak of the war, draining the country of its surplus of labor naturally caused a sharp advance in wages in Maine, as in all other sec- tions, but before this time an increase had begun, the result of a gradual changing of industrial conditions. The establishment of manufactures gradually drew labor from the farm, and in districts where the di- versification of labor was most marked monthly wages had risen to about ?20 before 1860. With this rise the employment of improved machinery became more general, and labor has become much more ef- fective than when lower waives ruled. The diflferc^nce in conditions surrounding labor may be appreciated from the remark of a New Hampshire correspondent BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 77 that, in 1841, "50 cents was paid for a day's work, which consisted of going to the fields as soon as it was light and working until 9 o'clock at night,'' while a Massachusetts correspondent worked one year in 1852 for ?100 and a suit of clothes, and paid $300 in 1870 for the same period of service. From account books belonging to the ancestors of David E. Hoxie, of Leeds, Hampshire county, Mass., the following statement, showing actual wages paid at different dates during the years 1840 to 1862 for various classes of farm labor, is taken: 78 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Years. With board. Without board. 1840 Five months from June i to November, per month $13 50 Eight months fh>m December i, per month January, one month, per month April I to June x, per month June 8, six months, per month '. January, hand and yoke cattle, per day Getting out manure, per day July, haying, per day Per year >-> >. 14 50 10 00 14 50 13 50 |2 00 75 I 00 1841 135 00 December to April, per month April, seven months, per month... II 00 1842. .. 12 00 December, one month, per month.. December, eight months, per month April to September, five months, per month Mnrch, Der dav 8 00 14 50 I' 00 67 October, one month, per month • Bight months, from April i, per month 10 00 1450 May, hand, one day, per day 83 May, hand, one day per day 75 Tuly, mowinff, oer day . . ..\. .. . X 00 Seven months from April x, i>er month 12 00 Seven months from April i, per month. 10 00 Pour months from December i, per month 10 00 1843 September, one month per mouth.. 9 00 October, one mouth, per month November, four months, per month 550 800 April, seven months, per month 14 50 1844 April, eight months, per month April, eight months, per month 12 50 14 50 1845 October, digging potatoes, per day 67 April, eight mouths, permonth 14 00 December, four mouths, permonth April, eight months, per month 10 00 1846 14 50 April, eight months, permonth December, three and a half months, per month... 12 50 1847 II 00 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 79 Years. With board. Without board 1847. 1848. 1854. 1855 1856.. 1857. 1859- April, eisrht months, per month April, four months, per month April, eight months, per month April, four months, per month April, six months, per month December, four months, per month Bight months, fh>m April to December, per mo. April, tight months, per month May, work one day August I to September 17, per day September » to October 24, per month April 16 to December 20, per month Three months, from January i, per month April 21 to December 24, per month Three months, per month June 23 to August i, i)erday April, eight months, per month October, one month NoYember, four days, per day August, cradling oats, one day May, hoeing, one day July, haying, one day October, digging potatoe8,*one day July, seventeen dasrs, hasring, per day August, twenty days, per month Kight months, per month Two months, per day May, planting, per day Haying, per day .• November, fall work, per day April, eight months, per month October, six months, per month March, four months, per month November, five months' per month November, three months, per month 12 50 ID 00 1450 II 00 15 00 II 00 1450 1450 67 75 15 00 15 00 15 00 15 00 I 00 15 00 15 00 50 15 CO 1550 67 75 I 25 67 15 00 14 50 12 00 16 00 13 00 15 00 I 25 75 I 2$ 75 I 25 8o FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Teats. With boaxtl. Without board. 1859. i860. x86i. 1863. October, four months, per month Bight months, per month Prom February two months, per month March, one month, per month April to July, three months, per month April to December, seven months, per month December, 1861, to April, 1862, three mos., per mo. July, hajrinsT, per day Prom April, seven months, per month ^.ugust, haying, five days, per day 10 00 10 00 11 00 II 00 14 00 15 00 14 00 I 25 15 00 I 25 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 8 1 One feature wWch is common in all records of this class should be pointed out The figures cannot be accepted as averages, and in some cases they may not even approximate averages. The person employed may be a superior or he may be an inferior workman. An example of this is found in the above statement for the year 1843. During that year wages per month were paid at the rate of |5.50, |8 and |14.50, these figures undoubtedly representing different de- grees of efficiency of labor. The difference between the first and the last rates is so great that it is pos- sible that the first represents a hired boy or youth. A very comprehensive compilation, showing wages paid in some portions of Massachusetts in al- most every year from 1752 to 1865, is presented. The figures have in each instance been taken from act- ual records. They must not be taken as averages for the state in the years to which they refer. Their value is invalidated by the absence of place and circumstances. The figures are furnished by our state agent for Massachusetts and in the main have been taken from the reports of the bureau of labor of that state. The statement referred to is thus given: 82 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT WAGES OF AGRICULTURAL LABORERS. MASSACHUSETTS. Years. J75a 1753 1754 1755 1756 plowing greensward 1757 with oxen.. 1760 1761 1763 with oxen 1764 1765, plowing 1766 1767 1770 1771 1771, bOjTS 1772 1772. boys 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 with oxen summer, with board. 1781 1782 Basis. Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day D«y Day Day Day Day Day Weelc i>ay Day Day Day Day Day Amounts I033 37 33 36 33 2 00 32 1 00 25 32 33 2 00 36 1 33 33 27 34 33 17 33 17 34 36 34 I 75 33 56 1 50 50 42 44 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 3 WAGES OF AGRICULTURAL LABORERS. MASSACHUSBTTS— Continued. Years. 1783- 1784. 1785- 1786. 1787. 1788. 1789- 1790. 1791- 1792- 1793. 1794- 1795. 1796- 1797- 1798- 1799- 1800. 1801. X802. X803. 1804. 1805. 1806. 1807. 1808. 1809. I8I0. 18II. I8I2. 1813. Basia. i>»y Day Day l>ay..i... Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day I>ay Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Amounts 39 39 41 33 48 39 42 34 44 39 35 54 53 49 44 62 48 4a 58 62 52 81 71 93 69 69 54 70 48 85 96 84 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT WAGES OF AGRICULTURAL LABORERS. MASSAC HUSETTS— Continued. Years. 1814 with double team 1815 with board with board and lodg^g . with two meals a day ... 1816 plowing with oxen 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 with oxen with oxen; with board .. with four oxen and plow 1822 1823 with oxen 1S25 with board with two meals a day with board and lodging . with oxen 1826 1827 shearing sheep 1828 1831 Basis. Day Day Day Month. Day Month. Month. Day Day Day Day.... Day... Day Day ... Day Day Day Day:... Day Day Day.... Month. Day Month. Month. Day Day Day Day Day Day.... Amounts I 70 3 00 87 1350 ' 56 8 00 10 00 75 I 50 1 49 53 83 70 2 00 1 50 2 04 77 94 1 50 74 16 50 58 1350 11 00 I 50 62 81 I 34 78 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 85 WAGES OF AGRICULTURAL LABORERS. MASSACHUSQTTS— Continued. Years. X835 with board with two meals a day with board and lodging 1840, with board without board with board, harvesting with board, transient without board X841, with board without board with board, harvesting with board, transient without board 1842, with board without board with board without board 1843, with board without board with board, boy with board without board i8;44, with board without board with board without board 1845, with board without board with board Basis. Day Month. Day Month. Month. Month. Month. Day Day Day.... Month. Month. Day Day Day Month. Month. Day Day Month. Month. Month. Day Day Month. Month. Day Day Month. Month. Day 16 50 55 1350 11 00 12 76 33 00 I 13 84 I 00 1343 26 00 I 00 63 I 00 13 81 26 00 75 I 00 13 27 26 00 5 00 75 I 00 13 92 a6 00 75 I 00 14 37 26 00 76 86 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT WAGES OF AGRICULTURAL LABORERS. MAS8ACHU8BTTS— Continued. Years. 1845, without board with board and lodging with two meals a day .. 1846, with board without board with board without board 1847, with board without board with board without board 1848, with board without board with board without board 1849, "with board without board with board without board 1850, with board without board with board without board 1851, with board with board with board, harvesting . without board 1852, with board without board with board, harvesting . without board Basis. Day... Month. Month. Month Month. Day... Day... Month. Month Day... Day... Month Month. Day... Day... Month. Month. Day... Day... Month Month. Day... Day... Month Day... Day... Day... Month. Month. Day... Day... Amounts $ z 00 II 00 13 50 14 06 a6 00 75 z 00 14 43 76 00 75 I 00 1456 26 00 75 I 00 1469 a6 00 75 I 00 13 71 18 00 75 I 00 1471 as 1 35 1 19 14 67 ao 00 1 50 I 00 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 87 WAGES OF AGRICULTURAL LABORERS. MASSACHUSETTS-Continucd. Years. 1853, with board 1854, with board without board . without board . 1855, with board without board.. with board without board . 1856, with board without board . Without board . 1857, with board without board . without board . 1858, with board without board . 1859, ^t*> board without board . i860, with board without board . with board without board. x86i, with board without board . 1862, with board without board . without board . 1863, with board without board . 1864, with board Basis. Month... Month... Month... Day Month... Month... Day Day Month... Month... Day Month... Month... Day Month... Day Month... D«y Month... Month... Day D«y Week.... Month... Month... Month... Month... Day Month... I>ay Month... Amounts $ 16 00 14 67 32 00 2 00 14 67 32 00 I 00 I 50 14 67 32 00 I 00 1467 32 00 I 00 15 96 I 00 16 2Z Z 00 15 10 21 75 1 00 99 428 15 00 20 00 19 14 26 00 2 00 1942 238 2033 88 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT WAGES OF AGRICULTURAL LABORERS. MASSACHUSETTS— Concluded. Years. 1864, without board , with board without board 1865, with board without board with board without board Amounts BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 89 In this statement it will be seen that the highest rates of wages appear to have been reached in 1865 and the lowest during the last fifty years in 1850. Some additional local details are found in the reports of Massachusetts correspondents, giving rates prevailing at certain dates in different towns. Notes from these reports from three of the principal counties of the state are presented: Berkshire county — "The best of farm help from 1840 to 1860 were paid from |12 to ^^16 per month, by the year or eight months and good day laborers |1 per day"— Town of Dalton. "In 1841, farm la- borer by the month, ^^10 and board; in harvesting, per day, |1 and board; in 1851, by the month, |13 to |l5 and board; harvesting, ^^1.25 to ^^1.50 per day and board; other than harvesting, |1 per day and board; in 1865, per month, |20 and board; without board, f32 per month; other than harvesting, |2 per day with- out board; |1.50 per day with board. These prices I paid to very good help." — Town of Egremont. "My father says that in his early years he followed the oc- cupation of farm laborer and in 1840 he used to receive $8 per month and board; wages gradually rose as more attention was given to farming, until the war, then a good hand got from |25 to $40 per month and board. Now farming is dull and help is mostly of foreign birth and mighty poor stock at that Our bright young men leave the farm." — Town of Savoy. "In 1840, wages in harvest time, with board, fl per day; common hands, 75 cents to 87 cents, without board. From 1840 to 1860 not much advance in wages." — Town of Williamstown. Hampshire county — "In 1840 first-class help could be obtained for |l2 per month and board, by the year, and for eight months about $15 per month and board; these prices ruled to 1860. Between 1850 and 1860, for the year, $14 to $15 per month and board. Between 1860 and 1865, about $20. Good day help, $1; extra ones, $1.25." — Town of South- ampton. "In 1840, $12 per month and Doard; 1841, go FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT *11 per month; 1842, $12; 1843, *10; 1844, $11; 1845, $11; 1846, $12; 1847, $13; 1848, $14; 1849, $15; 1850, $14; 1851, $15; 1852, $15; 1853, $15; 1854, $15; 1855, $15; 1856, $15; 1857, $15; 1858, $16; 1859, $20; 1860, $19; 1861, $17; 1862, $16; 1863, $24; 1864; $26; 1865, $25; board included in every instance. These figures have been taken from our own books and have required much time, but have been made as accurate as possible." — h. W. West, Hadley. "From 1860 to 1864 we employed on my farm two good American men at $13 per month and board. In 1843 being eleven years old, I worked on a farm where two men were employed for eight months, one at $11 per month and board and the other at $12 per month and board; I then thought I was getting good pay when I received $5 per month with board.'' — Town of Northampton. Middlesex county— "From 1847 to 1850, $16 per month and board, for eight months; 1851, $18 per month and board for eight months; 1852, $20 per month and board, for eight months; 1853, the same; 1854, $22 per month and board, for eight months; 1855 to 1860, average $22 per month and board, for eight months, the other four months, $12.'' — Town of Framingham. "In 1840, $12 per month with board, by the year; $14 for eight months; $1 per day for harvesting; 50 to 75 cents at other times." — Town of Groton. "In 1840, $13 and $14 per month, with board, for eight months; 1850 and 1860, $14 and $16 per month, with board, for eight months; 1861, $13 and $14 per month, with board, for eight months; 1862, $16 and $25 per month, with board, for eight months; 1863, $20 to $30 per month, with board, for eight months; 1864, $20 to $30 per month, with board, for eight months; 1865 to 1867, $22 to $30 per month, with board, for eight months." — Town of Hudson. 'Tor a series of years from 1840 we could hire good help for from $10 to $15 per month, with board. From 1855 to 1860, good farm laborers could be hired for $12 to $15 per month, with board." — Oty of Lowell and vicinitv. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 9I The agent for Rhode Island thus contrasts wages and conditions of labor in 1846 and those now prevailing: An old record shows American help on a Rhode Island farm in 1846, earning from |16 to |18 per month and board from March to November, with hours from sunrise to sunset. This was skilled help competent to work alone and willing to do any kind of work. This class is only obtainable in working foremen to-day, and they work less and command from |40 to $50 per month, with rent and fuel. There seems to be no record of any cheap help that were counterparts of the half-informed foreign help of to- day, who, in many instances, refuse to work over ten hours a day. Our large dairy farms are mostly run by far- mers with large families of boys, who do the milking, the help getting around afterwards and leaving be- fore chore time at night. In a record of 1846 we find in Providence county a family of twenty-six strong, healthy boys. There were others like it. To-day a farmer who can boast of five children is a rarity. This, of course, affects the amount of help. In Connecticut the state agent, as a result of his investigations, states that From 1850 to 1855 wages by the year were, with- out board, $18 to |20 per month, and with board, $9 to $12 per month. For the six summer months, $12 to |16 per month, with board. For July, |24, with board. By the day, with board, during haying season, $1,25, and at other seasons, 75 cents. BY THE YEAR, WITHOUT BOARD. Per Month. i860 to 1865 $22 to $35 x8^ to 1870 30 to 40 xSyoto 1875 35 to 40 i875to 1885 3oto 35 z885to 1890 35 to 40 92 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT During the period 1870-1875, for eight months, beginning April 1, men received |25 per month with board, and 1880 to 1885, by the year, they received fl8 to |25 per month with board. Our correspondent for Washington county, N. Y. states that he has continuously, since 1840, em- ployed farm laborers, and refers to his own mem- oranda for the following notes: FROM— Per day with board, in harvest. Per day with board, at common labor in flummer. Per day with board, in winter. 1840 to 1850. 1850 to i860. i860 to 1870. 1870 to 1880. 1880 to 1890. I 75 I 00 I 75 1 50 I 50 I 55 65 1 37H I 125^ I 00 I 45 50 I 00 I 00 75 Without board, 37 1-2 cents per day to be added to the foregoing per diem wages. Wages by the month for the whole year, with board, have been: From 1840 to 1850, |io.50; 1850 to 1860, $11.50; 1860 to 1870, |19.50; 1870 to 1880, 120.00; 1880 to 1890, $18.00.' During the six or seven months of cropping sea- son, wages by the month have been about as follows: FROM— 1840 to 1850. 1850 to i860. i860 to 1870. 1870 to 1880. 1880 to 1890. With board. Without board. $H 00 1 15 00 23 00 30 00 24 00 32 00 32 00 26 00 BURBAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 93 Wages varied considerably in each decade, but the foregoing figures compare nearly with my ex- perience, which, I tliink, is not far different from my neighbors. For a number of years I have paid my main man $350 per year, find him a good garden, keep his cow, give him house rent, and fuel on the stump, he boarding himself. During the years following 1840, farm wages in New Jersey averaged about 50 cents per day for ordi- nary labor and 75 cents for harvesting. Wages by the month amounted to about f 6 to $8. It was the almost universal rule that laborers were hired with board. Edward Burrough, of Merchantville, Cam- den county, furnishes the following items taken from the account book of his father, Joseph A. Burrough, of the same county. The original entries are given for the lights they throw upon the conditions sur- rounding farm labor at that day. WAGES PAID BY JOSEPH A. BURROUGH FOR FARM HELP FROM 1842 TO 1852. Furnished by Edward Burrough, Merchantville, Camden county, N. J. 1845. Levi Johnson, |7 per month and board. James Bunn, $8 per month and board. Israel Gar- wood, 40 cents per day and board. March, Samuel Martin, |6.50 per month and board. 1846. Stephen Simmonds, 40 cents per day. January 12, Perry Simmonds, $6 per month and board. March, Perry Simmonds, |7 per month and board. April 6, Adam Getsin, f 8.50 per month and board for eight months. Rented small house to Perry Simmonds at $2.50 per month for as long as he shall work for me at f 9 per month and meals fur- nished him. 1847. Henry Johnson, at f 7 per month. Feb- ruary 17, Stephen Simmons, at 40 cents per day for a year. May 26, James Prunell, at |9 per month. Let small house to Perry Simmonds at |2 per month, to 94 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT pay him $9 per month and he to keep a cow. August, hired William Pate and Samuel Vehnell at |8 pei month for four months. 1848. Rent house to Perry Simmonds at |2 per month and pay him 50 cents per day for a year, not including wet or bad weather. Carpenter work, 11.25 per day and hoard. Hired James Prunell for eight months, three months at ^^9 and three months at $10.50, then three months at ^^9. Hired Dennis McSugh for three months at |6 per month. 1849. Hired Dennis McSugh for one year for f 100. Rented house to William Harris for |25 per year and pay him 50 cents per day. 1850. Hired Dennis McSugh for one year for 1102. Rented house for f30 per year; wages, 50 cents per day. 1851. Rent house for $25 per year; wages, 50 cents per day. March, hired Benjamin Foley for |8 per month. July, hired Robert Foley for |7.50 per month. 1852. David Walker at ^^7 per month. Rent house at |25 per year; wages, at 50 cents per day. Peter McSugh at f 9 per month for four months and seven months at f 10 per month. 1853. Rented house at $30 per year; wages, 50 cents per day. Peter McSugh for one year at $10 per month. 1854. Hired Enoch Collins at $9 per month. June, hired four Germans at $10 per month for one month. 1855. Hired Dennis Morgan at f 6 per month. Rented house to Humphries at |2 per month; wages, 62 1-2 cents per day, including meals. Hired Daniel Morgan for nine months at |9 per month. 1856. Rented house for $25 per year; wages 62 1-2 cents per day. Hired Franklin Dun for nine months for 1100. Hired John Miller for six months for fl2 per month. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 95 1857. Hired Samuel Seers for six months at f 13 per month. Hired George Seers for eight months at |14 per month. Hired George Fritz for one month at $10 per month. Rented house for $30 per year and wages 50 cents per day. 1858. Rented house for ?25 per year and wages 50 cents per day if he keep a cow, if no cow kept, rent of house, $30. Hired Isaac Davis at $10 per month. 1859. Hired Isaac Davis for eleven months at $11 per month. Hired John Harris for eight months at $11 per month. Rented house for $25; wages of son, $10 per month and meals. 1860. Isaac Davis, wages, $11 per month. 1861. Isaac Davis, wages, $12 per month. 1862. J. H. Wilson, wages, $6 to $7 per month. 1863. Rented house to Isaac Davis free, he to work for me at 50 cents per day. William, one month at $8. 1864. Hired Isaac Pattern for one month at $10. Hired Sill at $8. August; hired Henry at $15 per month. Rented house to Isaac Davis free; wages, $4 per week for nine months and $1 per day for three months. 1865. Hired Hiram Turner for nine months at $20 per month and board and continued at same rates for three years. Richard Coles, of Woodstown, Salem county, N. J., furnishes the statement of the rate of wages paid in different classes for labor in that county, from 1840 to 1865. 96 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT YEAR. With board, per month, by the year. Wiih board. per month, for fummcr. With board, per day. Hanrest Wages. With board, per day. Common Ubor. 1840 1841 1842 1843 ,844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 18^0 1851 185a 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 i860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 I 800 8 00 8 00 8 00 8 00 ID 00 8 00 850 850 9 00 ID CO 10 00 ID 00 10 50 10 50 11 00 12 CO 12 50 12 50 12 50 11 00 12 CO 12 00 15 00 16 00 16 00 I 10 00 10 CO 10 CO 10 00 10 00 12 00 10 00 10 00 10 00 10 50 12 00 12 00 12 CO 12 50 12 50 13 00 15 00 16 00 16 00 16 00 13 00 14 00 14 00 18 00 20 00 20 CO I062H . 85 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 I 00 I 00 I 00 to I 75 1 00 to I 75 I 25 to I 75 I 25 to I 75 I 25 to I 75 I 50 to 2 20 I 50 to 2 00 I 50 to 2 00 I 80 to 2 00 1 80 I 50 I 50 I 75 1 00 2 00 I045 50 50 50 50 62 J4 50 50 50 6254 62H 65 65 65 75 75 75 75 I 00 I 00 75 75 87H I 00 I 25 I 25 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 97 Pennsylvania wages ruled somewhat lower than the New Jersey rate. From 1840 to 1845, in some sections the harvest rate was 50 cents per day, ordin- ary wages, 33 cents. Between 1845 and 1850 there was a gradual rise to 62 1-2 cents for harvest and 50 cents for ordinary. Before 1860 the rate had ad- vanced to 75 cents for harvest, and ordinary in pro- portion. Mr. W. B. Bishop, of Strasburg, furnishes memoranda relative to wages in Lancaster county, as follows: Wages with board in Lancaster county, from 1840 to 1849, inclusive, were, by the day, 50 cents; for harvest, fl; by the year, |10 per month. From 1850 to 1853, inclusive, by the day, 50 cents; harvest, fl; by the year, |11 per month. In 1854, by the day, 50 cents; harvest, fl.25; by the month, f 11. In 1855, by the day, 62 1-2 cents; harvest, |1.50; by the month, f 11.50. In 1856 and 1857, by the day, 75 cents; har- vest, fl.50; by the month, |12. In 1858, by the day, 50 cents; harvest, $1; by the month, fl2. In 1859 and 1860, by the day, 60 cents; harvest, $1.25; by the month, $12. In 1861 and 1862, by the day, 621-2 cents; harvest, $1.25; by the month, $13. In 1863, by the day, 75 cents; harvest, $1.50; by the month, $14. In 1864, by the day, $1; harvest, $2; by the month, $16. In 1865, by the day, $1; harvest, $2; by the month, $20. Until late years very little farm labor was em- ployed without board. From 1840 to 1849, board was estimated at about 20 cents per day for day labor and about $4 by the month Later, to 1863, board for day labor, at about 30 cents per day, by the month, $6. From 1863, 50 cents for day labor and $10 by the month. These figures have been taken from the books of one who was actively engaged in farming during the year specified. They represent the prices paid first-class farm labor, hence the figures given for harvest hand by the month, may be slightly above the general average. Before the advent of reaping ma- 98 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT cMnes, a good reaper could command a little better wages than one who was only able to bind during harvest In the South, prior to 1860, there was practi- cally no free farm labor. The great bulk of the work of the fields was performed by slave labor, and when hiring was done the price of the labor was paid to the owner of the slave. Enough hiring was done in this way to set a value upon labor, the same thing as fixing a rate of wages. Where slaves were hired out for the year a contract between the owner and the person hiring was entered into, setting forth the obligations of the parties. Sometimes this con- tract was in the form of a note agreeing at a speci- fied date to pay a definite sum, in addition to other obligations for food, clothing, etc. The correspon- dent of the Department for Cabarrus county, N. C, submits one of these contracts in the form of a note, which is given, names only being omitted: Twelve months after date we promise to pay , trustee to , or order, five hun- dred dollars for the hire of negro girl Minnie. We also promise to furnish said girl with three suits of clothes, two pairs shoes and stockings, one blanket or quilt, and bonnet, and pay all her taxes, State and Confederate, for the year 1865, and return said girl at Concord, at the end of the year, unavoidable acci- dents excepted. Witness our hands and seals January 1, 1865. The promise is to pay in Confederate currency, and the enormous discount at which it stood at that date explains the apparently high cost of the labor. Prior to 1860, a year's labor of a neG:r(> man was worth about flOO in Virginia and the Carolinas. This, of course, included not only board, but some clothing, shelter and bedding as well. Women gen- erally, for field labor, were worth about |45. In the cotton fields of the Gulf states, and in the sugar dis- tricts of Louisiana, labor was more productive, and BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 99 the rate of hire for slaves higher. The rate for able- bodied men was about |125 per annum; and for women, for field work, from |75 to f 100. Wages in Ohio in the years following 1840 ranged very much the same as already reported in other districts of free labor. Transient service out- side of harvest cost about 50 cents, while harvest- ing was paid for at the rate of 75 cents per day. There was a. gradual increase until the breaking out of the war, when there was a sharp rise conse- quent upon the withdrawal of large numbers of able- bodied men from productive industry. The high rates reached during the war period; have been neariy if not quite maintained. Mr. Paul Oliver, of Perryville, Ashland county, furnishes a statement relative to wages and labor conditions between 1840 and 1865, as follows: From 1840 to 1850 farm laborers hired by the year received $16 per month without board, and f 12 with board. Wages per day for transient service in harvest wpre 75 cents without board and 62 1-2 cents with board. Per day, at other seasons, 50 cents with board, 62 1-2 cents without. From 1850 to 1862, by the year, f 18 per month, without board, and f 14 with board. Per day, for transient service in harvest, 90 cents without board, and 75 cents with board. In other seasons, laborers received 62 1-2 cents per day with board, and 75 cents without board. From 1862 to 1865, when hired by the year, la- borers received $26 per month without board, and |20 with board. For transient service in harvest, f 1.50 per day without board, and |1.25 with board. During other than harvesting, transient laborers re- ceived |1 per day with board, and fl.25 without board. From 1840 to 1850 labor and wages remained very uniform. As the energetic young men grew up and pushed West for homes, the younger ones, with lOO FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT a sprinkling from the flow of foreign immigrationy supplied their places. The rush to the California gold mines in 1849 and early fifties, unsettled wages a trifle, but the call for laborers to gather in the har- vests was responded to by the villagers in every neighborhood, and the women in many cases came cheerfully to the flelds and performed the work of ^ men. The war, with its drain upon the young and vigorous men, unsettled wages and advanced the price of labor to correspond with the scale of all other commodities. Mr. Joseph Allen, of Gano, Butler county, O., furnishes a record which he has kept since he began to work for wages by the month, in 1836. In that year and in 1837 he worked nine months of each year for |45. The record is presented in tabular form and in detail: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. lor 1836. 1837- . 1838.. 1839- 1840.. i&n.. 184a.. 1843- 1844- 1845- - 1846.. 1847- 1848.. 1849- 1850.. 1851.. 1852.. 1853- 1854- 1855- . 1856.. 1857- 1858.. 1859- i860.. 1861.. 1862.. 1863.. 1864.. 1865.. 1866.. 1867.. 1868.. 1869.. Monthly wages. $6io$8 6 8 8 10 12 20 10 12 9 10 8 9 8 9 10 II 10 12 10 12 10 12 10 12 10 13 10 13 11 13 II 13 11 13 12 13 12 14 13 15 14 16 14 16 13 15 13 15 13 15 12 13 14 15 15 20 18 25 18 25 15 20 15 20 15 18 Day laborer's wages. I 25 to I 50 35 50 40 50 25 35 35 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 62 62 50 75 I 00 I 25 I 25 I 00 I 00 I 00 50 75 50 50 40 50 50 6a 62 75 75 62 62 62 62 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 I 00 I 25 I 50 I 50 I 25 I 25 I 25 Female help wages per week. I 50 to I 75 50 75 50 75 50 75 75 75 75 I 00 I 00 I 00 I 00 I 00 I 25 I 25 I 25 1 25 I 50 I 50 I 50 I 25 1 25 I 25 I 25 I 75 1 75 I 75 I 75 I 75 1 75 I 75 75 I 00 75 75 75 I 00 I 00 I 00 I 00 I 25 I 25 I 25 I 25 I 25 I 50 I 50 I 50 1 50 2 CO 2 00 2 00 I 50 I 50 I 50 1 50 2 00 2 00 2 50 250 250 2 50 2 50 Harrest wages per day. $ 4oto$ 50 50 50 75 I 00 75 50 I 00 I 00 I 00 I 25 I 25 I 50 I 50 I 50 I 50 1 75 I 75 I 75 1 50 2 25 2 75 250 2 50 2 25 2 00 75 75 I 25 1 25 I 25 I 50 I 50 1 75 2 00 2 00 2 00 2 00 2 00 2 00 2 00 2 75 3 50 3 00 2 75 2 50 2 25 I02 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Years. 1870. 1871. 1872. 1873. 1874- 1875. 1876. 1877- 1878.. 1879. 1880. x88i. i88a. X883. 1884. 1885. 1886. 1887. x888. 1889. X890. 1891. Monthly wages. I15 Ii8 15 18 15 18 15 18 15 18 15 17 15 17 15 18 16 18 16 18 16 18 16 18 16 18 t5 15 15 x6 18 16 x8 15 17 Day laborer's wages. $1 00 I 00 I 00 I 00 I 00 X 00 X 00 I 00 X 00 X 00 I 00 X 00 I 00 I 00 I 00 I 00 75 75 75 I 00 I 00 I 00 |i 25 I 25 I 25 I 25 X 25 1 25 1 n I ?5 1 25 I 25 X as 1 25 1 25 I 25 X as I 25 X 00 I 00 I 00 X 2S I 2S I 2S Female help wages per week. $1 75 I 75 I 50 I 50 X 50 1 50 I 50 a 00 a 00 a 00 a 00 a 00 a 00 i2 5o a 50 2 00 2 00 2 00 2 00 a 00 2 25 a 2s a 2$ a as a as 2 as a 00 a as a 00 2 as 2 00 2 as a 00 a 00 a 00 250 a 50 a so Harvest wages per week. Si 75 I 50 1 50 I 50 1 50 I 25 1 2S » 2S I 25 X 2$ I 2$ I 25 X ?5 I 2S X 25 X 2S X 2S X 2S X 25 I 2S X 2S X 00 $2 00 2 00 00 75 75 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. IO3 Another old record, made up from entries in the account books of Mr. M. E. Gray, of Willoughby, Lake county, gives a showing for the northern section of the state: 1840 to 1849, 50 cents per day, and in harvest 75 cents, with board. 1850, f 13 pep month for eight months, with board. 1851, 62 1-2 cents per day, and in harvest f 1 per day, with board. 1852, f 13 per month. 1853, f 12 per month, with board. 1854, |12 for eight months in summer, and $10 for four months in winter. 1855, 112.50 per month for the year, with board. 1856, f 11 per month, with board. 1857, $13 per month to one man, and f 15 per month to another, with board. 1859, f 12 per month, with board. 1860, f 13 per month, with board. 1861, f 13 i)er month, with board. 1862, f 13 per month, with board. 1863, |18 per month, with board. 1864, 120 per month, with board. Mr. Gray says in a note that when wages were 50 cents per day, or f 10 to f 12 per month, men were willing to work from sunrise to sunset, but now, with wages fl.50 per day, ten hours constitutes a day's work. The state agent for Michigan writes as to the re- sults of his investigation: I gather the following interesting items from a class of elderly correspondents and from younger ones having access to their fathers' books: In 1840, f 7 per month, with board, by the year. Harvesting, 75 cents per day; 50 cents if boarded. I04 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT From 1840 to 1850, paid common laborers in winter 50 cents per day; in summer, 621-2 cents. For haying and harvesting, 75 cents to f 1 per day, with board. From 1840 to 1855, good men got per day, with board, f 1 in harvest, 75 cents in haying, 50 cents for common labor, and f 11 per month, with board. In 1852, 1853 and 1854, worked for f 10 per month in winter and f 13 per month for eight months in sum- mer, with board. From 1840 to 1855, good men got, with board, f 1 per day in harvest, 75 cents in haying, 50 cents for common labor, and f 11 per month when paid by the month. An intelligent correspondent, now 65 years old, and a prominent man in his town, says: "In 1846 I worked through the summer for f 11 per month, then the average price; in 1847, 1848, 1849 and 1850, for f 12 per month and board.*' In 1851, common labor, with board, 50 cents to 75 cents; har- vesting and haying, fl to f 1.50. Another reports from his books as follows: FARM LABORERS BY THE YEAR. Per month. 1849,1850, 1851 $1000 i?5a. 1853, 1854 " 00 1855. 1856. 1857 la 50 1858,1859,1860 1400 . 1862. 1863, 1864 25 00 During the years foUovnng 1840 monthly wages, including board, in Illinois averaged about $8, with a slow but gradual rise until 1860, when it was per- haps double that figure. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. IO5 Rates of Wages. PER DIEM, FOR THIRTYFIVE YEARS, 1856-1891. Compiled in i)eriods of seven years each, from the report of Hon. T. B. Aldrich, United States Senate Committee, 1893. io6 FOURTH BIBNNIAL REPORT (g^ 00 < >^ >o to O w PJ w PL, CO W o < to O « {^ g^ S» J? ^^R'ft^JJfilRS^S M ^ . •^ *^ « •^ " to t<< CI <1 « «i «i «i « '89Xo|dnis J? ^ 8 ft ;? a -^ ^ ft ^ • 5? 8 C 2 ft ?!. f 8 9> » Sv a « •^ « " »* to « « « « « CI « « -«3 s > {; . %f ft ' s ^ h 'S 8 « M M « ** ** r* M M (1 w « M « « (<« 'SdXoidms 2 f > ^ ^ 5 ^ ?^ "• « ) >2 'S > '^ ^ h ^ . 5. ^ » > ^ 8 ic I n JO {? ? . 8. ^ ) "9 > ft 9 > 5 . ^ r % *2 ^ « CI « v« (<« •o d « V< CI (1 (1 CI « v« '•diCoidm^ M . t* . -^ '' 5 ^s % »- ? , 5 ^ ^ * a . ^ h 2 ■ e '8 « ^ s ^ > ^S g ) p. "9 $ g J « > §8 r : ^8 ^ ' {^ « s «« •^ M M ^ ^ •^ M •^ '•dXoidniS v« w « M ^ t^ ^ « ^ w P 5 ? ^ r ^ P ^ ' M 8 ^ t If H s , s > Sf) % 8 g ; n . ^ ' g . ^ 5 S > «2 ^ . ?> 'SdXoidmH f ) M M •< 00 s - 15 lis ' ? \ g •8 •8 >o 2^ '^ ■89iCb|diiia £ > 2 ^ % " 3 i S i g : ^ > & wqimiN unox '2a}vod9H 3 > > 8 i >*' c c a •d 3 9 H -^ > > »W8 a »5 ^ £ S s z a S a S iz; Z sz: ^ ^ '• ' •c i 1 1 . 1 ^1 1 s -: - M ^ ] t 1 1 S - r 1 - : ' 3 = r : z CO 8S O M H Si s D :£ - = s s : = - - •: ' 3 - : : z § i BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 107 ft 5 ^ 5, s; jr JT ^ « « ►. r- -- M 55 85 15 5? S» P, 8. M CI M M V« (<« fl M 8 3 '^ 5 s, ;s % 8 5- 8 !?«!;> ? « « « e» « w w j^ ? J? * 1 'S £:• ;^ §. *»^ s £: i « 8 8. 'ft 1: 8 ;s ^ ?) « s, n n M (<« ^ 5 !? ^ ^ '^ g) 5) 5 ^ J? ^ 'S D; S ^ n M N M M M ^ S 3; ^ 1 S 2 J:- 85 ? '^ 8 ^ ct £:■ 5^ 35 « 2- ^ ^ 2 2 P5 M r« M v« 2* % S> ^ ^ S % )^ t} ^ % )Q ^ Z Z^ CI M M M N CI M J? % 5> ^ S ^ 00 « -♦ ON a* « 1 :;> ^ :? « 8 S 2> P5 5- 5 JO ^ ^ t^ t^ 00 00 8 5 *i^ 5> 55 ^ !? 8 £» c!? & M M M M 8 {? ^ S *8 8 8 ^ « M M « M W JO ^ »* « M M « « <^ « P, '^ 1 •0 W Jj C* ««• tif « » ^ '^ a 2 85 2 ^ S 5 55 ?J 2 19 ^ « ? <& 8 ^ M M M M ? « « R ^ a ^ >^ 5) ^ M M M M - M ^ « s> - §1 vo jj w eg JO M £> * •* ^ :t % "e % «^ S 1^ - •? •♦ « g ^ 5 5) 5J ^ § ^ ^' ^ s a a s 2 ^' szi « a d ' s si nI s a a s § ^ ^' 1 = i & 1 •0 a 1 2 1 4/ .2 CO 1 8 < 1 ■1 3 t .a X * : r = : -. = s •a 1 . . . . . . io6 FOURTH BIBNNIAL REPORT *m9|a •ud <2 « « « 5. S • 8 s • t , 15 00 ? 99U9AV M « f« •^ •* c^ ti N CI « (i « « (I «§* O 9 > s S? >g^ 3» » ^ r 5 1 'g i ^ if ' ^ J ;s 2 ^ M v« ** - to (1 M <1 ft (i « (i e« *89XoidniS[ S > -^ • 8 9 » ? 9> - ^ > 9 , ^ ■ i? § 2 c ??> fi M M ^ 8 ? > ^ \ 8 . S S 8 5 5 > r* ; ^ > ;g d^ % r^ M ^ M M - *^ »o «i C« (1 w fi « « v« 'nXoidiiiH « M •8 ^ . ^ ^ - ^ , ^ ^ ) g ^ a !? 00 M J, Pi <3 ^ oc 8 . 8 . s s ^ ^ u 1 9 > ? > {; • « » ^ ^ r ^ 8 •s c; »^ N - ►^ « « « « CI CI w (<4 r« ■69^0[dnia «^ «*■ » 2 • 5 . ? P5 •^ (1 ^0 (1 > s "$ » ^ «. •^ • !> • 5> § » ► 5 8 IT J 15 lo If g . 8 . <5 > ^ ) S , P > ^ . ^ . % ^ N c« M « r« •*> ft (<« (1 w vt « (1 ft VI ^ ••diCoidnia t> «> •^ ^ ^0 % •^ ? , s ; >s * 3 ^ ^ h 2 >• t« 15 » Pi i 3 ^ » ^S 9 > PL !? ^ g J « > 88 j: : 5 ^ • r: : « S O « •^ »- •^ M w •^ to 'S9i£o|dniS M « « f* ? t^ •^ 00 3 ^ ^ 1 . ^ P ^ ■ >o 8 {? ^ ;p 1 $ ? > S > lO ?> 8 g : s ^ ' g . 1? I ? > ya 12 . ?? l-H «» *^ •^ ^ « ** ■* Q 'SdXoidnia I*" M ^ 00 jf - « £ ? i S "8 « 'S 2^ % ^TOJdjgia £ 2 ^ >2 ' 3 ! S J J Jx* i 3 >i c s •0 3 9 3 H •^ {X > 919)8 s PS Szi S s 1 8S d S a iz; iz; ^ z i ;; « M M (<« M M ^ !? S g 3 ^ • 8 3 8 !5 •8 s^ ? (I m (<« rt & v! -* « ►^ ►- « - %s a « M e« M « W ^ s « •« > "2 t> 1* • § a s t> § V ^ S 8 . 'g r^ s ;s -R 1; , J5 s- p 5 ? i ^ i ^3 S "^ g Ep « ;} % tr > t^ 5 8^ « w r< m ^ w ►^ - « *^ « ^ V & n ^ f* « e« M i? *» > w '^ S ^ • 00 yc ■* k ' = p 9 > > ir » J5 \ S 2 2» P5 ^ <2 tr <^ so ^ : ^ n . ? 9 00 ?; g > P » ^ • 5 i S r« . S' 2 *o « «< « ^ M - ^ *- ^ ^ - ;s ^ (<« M M r« e« (<« Ch o» « ^ 3 a « IT i >o 8 i> t> 00 « S ^ ^5 «*■ » ;? ; ^ !? 8 <£ 00 ' g > ? . S i( ) 'O S 'S 8 8 f » j: ' ^ . « S I vg ^ j:: % « « '^ "* «^ > «A , •* ^ •^ ^ •^ ^ «^ ** M •^ M M a. sg c > *^ 1 ! "-S ■* ^ 3 "^ ^ M 1 • r* s ^ 2 ^ S 5 ;:5 J5 1 ^ M 19 'S ^ z > ^ 8 8 1/ \ g . ^ > S m r« > ^0 «0 M M M Ci ► ^ M •^ « . ;$ M M * « ? M > § > S « •8 c tr > 1- £ > ^ ■ « IT > T ■ % . "S -ft S S f 2 ' i ^ > « 5^1? > 9 ^ 9 I « ■ g ' 3 ■ ^ t ■ s- ^ >■ c c t a s >J >I >J s § c •0 >; >; Si £ £ s u 8 ^ 2 z Z s S s 15 55 E M fi s i- 2 ■ s "3 . , . ^ s .1 '1 r J Z c s >i o! JS s < :s > a a •a •a t c c f ja Y (fl cd J ^ S X - j: CO • ' C S s s io8 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT a 00 M v6 00 M I CO (^ <1 w >^ »o P^ O tu 0^ W of « < to O CO W JT S CN 55 « JO ^ r. g vo 55 S 1. « S 8 ? s 5 15 ^ M M ». 5- 1 ;; R 'S 3 . >o in ^ 1 •ft :? ^8 ^ a '^ .g* p. 8^ ^ M ». ». ft w « w « ft 'SdXoidtna ?> ^ ;? ^ ••If ^ \o r>. ^ - «» ? 5 8 1 « M « ft 2» ? 3- ^ « M .- ft « - - *89Xoidaia J? J? 'S € s jr • ft t*5 «o - 2- g> f?: 1 $ ^ 9) ^ M M 2 J J? s ft JQ •^ i? ft ^ ^ 55 'Snipoddv z i & 1 : '^' = 5 55 s 5 = 1^ Q M c X eg a cd 5- ! i e OCCUPATIONS. 2 2 3 1 " : 1 c 1 JS i 1 . 1 r s « CB BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 109 PI vo 3L ^o «/i »o to ^ ^ S' )^ s « s r« N ( If? {<« N « 2^ 8 » 3; !? ct « c* 10 w o r^ >o ^ a 2 00 00 -^ VO ^ 00 ^ ^ 8 N to 8 00 rO (<• 5f> «*5 10 « to N R g^ :? 8 2 2 n 00 ^ to to Ov 8 8 «c to N « ^ *^ '^ 8 8 to to v3 CO *S Ci N « ►< «o r^ •O "* I? c» o \o o oooNO toN>o ?i R 8^ p; J? 8 5 8 'S, Ci to « to 8 « to to (>• «o r>. CO % to ^ VO ■^ r^ o to vO ^ 00 f^ to •R £-c55-8'8.S 8^ 8.?^ -<»■ lo 00 1^ ♦ P» M >0 <0 « ON <0 fO vO to 00 « R ^ « 5> « R $> 8 2 ;r so to 0« c« «0 1^ c4r>.>o>o« ^ 3 S >:' S S ^z; 8 M a n C a s z z S, 6 z d :s bp « a 2 « 3 S * § . Ill (^ M S no FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT a; a a o o 00 VO 00 CO < w >^ CO o CO W O < o CO 'nxaia •i9■ Hi "^ M •^ ** "* ** •^ m « <§* P; 8 S ■ 8 58 g, JQ 8 8 ^ % % ^ Si ^ « « *o ** ' « . A ^ « « "* M ^ M M - « « OS w t M 00 00 00 « NO o « OV O '89iCoidaiH « i » Ki S oo ^ ^ 5. s 8 S S) ;8 P; JQ fi^ 8 8 £ ^2 ^ !? 9» (S s* 5 S> S, S, S, 3 « " « « Si K A - - Ct - •^ « « M « r4 M ^ V > oo ^ o VO o n to ^ '■ lo c« NO 'MiCoidmH 1 8 f % % ' 5 ^ tQ % 8 K? 8 s JQ 8 v^ vS « « to t* » il ^ a - M M « ^ '^ « M M « CI IJ yo 00 ^ o ^ « « « „ VO to « 'SdXoidmH ^ £• sS % ^2 s * ?> s» ft S> 8 5. 2 5^ 8 ^ ;4 - « ti ^ h Hi ►^ « ^ •^ « -* *^ M H. VI ^ OS f > ^ t* o Ov VI « ^ N VO N V« -MiCoidniH ^ ^ JQ '^ Si 8 s 5 ^ <2> 8 «> 8 S) 'Sv 5, » S. M i; " •^ «> , ^ ^ •^ ** •^ •^ 'saiCoiduH (<« « s t* » s « >o "« f « n M s VO VO lO ^ ? ;x % ' s n ^ 55 P) 2> 8 ?> 8^ ^ ^ ;aajaiBia ^0 o^ranN ib;ox -JBapioddH a 1 5? A 5? ■» 1 55 55 S 6 1 55 1 55 55 55 s s 1 S E s •o : M bo p « = = : OS ,1 •< a cd 1 1 1 g CI 1 1 5 ^ t S = 5 z : i 1 ^ ^ ^ . o 8 «> H ^ « (0 ;< ^ A &4 C D m 3 - z t- (A U >{ . , . . . ^ . . g i3 J n M ^ ro a % ^ 2 ^ % o % BUREAU OF LABOR 2^ ? 5 ^ STATISTICS. R 35 IJ 5 III 8^ 'R {? » 2 8 ««■*«« ^ 8 'R to ^ Ov % A CO to 8 JQ lO O JO JO M fO >- to aiW'«-««citO'* J <5? to to 8N f» r^ lO vO lO C« M M to ^ so >0 8i 8 Ci to 8 8 ^ ^ S) « ^ 3: S 8 'JS ^ to « w 8 "" 35 to M O Z 9 ^ ^ a - - - 8 5? 8i to « M lO t« (1 JO >o p. « R- {^ 8 » S to w •-• to "-• lO ^ « IQ 8 8 J? 8 to « Ci VO 00 C< 1^ g, 1^ 5 <;y 1? 8 ^ jr 8 Ci N ^ W f» N ** & « j: 00 « to 8 S) 3: *ft 8 8 9 ^ S5 00 M to C* CI « i3 S? -nr •H n ov r« lO c* -^ ;r J? 2 ;s ^ 2S I I 1" .9 «>*§§" 'Si c (6 I o 5 :s ^ bo g I I i 5 £ o n S t = fc 2 £ 2 • 8 X 8 £ a K s ^ ^ 2 K ^ s u II 5 « 2 •a 112 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT c c o O ON 00 M v6 00 M I CO ^ O Pi w CO « o CO W <3 aSBJ3AV CO w W i-i 8 fe 55 'S M M (<« S" s 1 8 to ^ CO to 5 ?. 2 nS C^ gJ M CO M M M 'SdiCoidaxH w so 00 ^ a 15 to ;j in S ^ t S JQ 5j ^ S M « « « M 'WiCoidaxH «*• vO o ^ ;: "* On S» J5, ^ % 'ft ? 1 S^ 8 « M ?: 5n «^ }^ IS. « M CS « « 'saXoidoxa •V •♦ OO CO sg ;^ l>. ««<. •* VO to «0 to N 1- 8 ^ lO to o 8^ ^ ^ 5 ft ^ « to (>• N « •MXoidnxH VO OO •* p» J? P; 00 •-• ^ ON OO « u;) tjj 1 8^ ?o 8. 00 R JJ? nS ft ^ 8n S *$ saiCoidmS * s « Ov g ^ •o »- VO to «0 g N CO t ON JC ^ s JCJ J? ft ^ !? n8 nS S. 'eaXoidnia lO M r>. "* ;r t? ■* »- {? to t^ t^ P« Jj- 'SdXoidma j^qranK wox {? -i?) s ^8 *ft % :* J 'JSanaoddH z 2 ;^s- lil^J So P Q 'i i 2 1 1 i « a CQ V3 1 1 i 2 > bo ? 03 i •d s 1 t 1 1 1 PQ i « P OS 1 a ll 11 z = (0 i i a 1 j 1 s m a a F (A a 5 : - 2 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. "3 % 5 8^ <^ ** « «i A c« to ^ 2 5, o ^S^ « to « « « « to to « 1 " to to ^ ^ to ! ^ <» £; 5 vO s^ ^ % ^C « CI 00 o» •o 5 ) ^ to *l s 1 t? % s n % Z^ 8 8 ?>| s I ^ S ft 'S > « 8 8 .8 «*«*>« VI C« to to ei ■ a _^ M M ;; to to ■^ ^ « g g, ?t 5 Ov ro % - « 1 '* ^0 f* , <* to << & s, s 12 5 ;r SS ,£• S - a . O ^ P; ? . <& 5 8 NO M e< M « M cs « « o rt «i « % % S % ^ ft 8 If S ^ ^2 ^ 8 5J. % P ; K 9, 8 ^ w to « «i n rt •* « M Ji ^ ^ c« M 4» «! ¥^ 1 «? ;r ^ *§> R ?? a S " CI 1^ 5 5 - o ^ JC \ « NO e« o » 8 8 ;s » 8v S; 8 <£ ^ » 8 »o f » J? R ai 5.1 M e< (i « - « W «» ►^ « M & c» M 1 ;^ M t^ M M M » J? '^ ■^ ' 1 N n 00 c^ f* M ^0 M .- ft J? 9, g> !$ :? g, S S 5 W ? 8 JQ ^ £ • 8 ^ ^ >i J? M M •^ A ^ M ^ « M ^ « JP 2 vO « M to CI ^ f 2 f tt lO 00 U" > M vO « Ov 5 g ^ S = & 'R 2 NO I * §8 ^ 1 . 5? '^ 00 C^ p; > M ^ > d a 1 JH* : M z z 2 £ P< Z £ 5 55 fi 0< S i a en 8 ^ 8 B s r, D 8 •0 1 . bo ' , = , t 8 n A S 1 1 1 M s - e 1 1 4i *fl 1 a s 1 s I •2 • S •d • 1 1 •O 1 1 5 a = : s 3 « 1 s - s ** ^ «> : s S = : Z z : ^ fri a 1 H a 5 114 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT a i 00 VD lO 00 M Pi < CO O w xn o < o w W < Pi aSvadAv ^g' ^ g, »> -MiCoidazH a a 8 JQ to »i 2 8 % R JQ K2 'saXoidma ^ 'saiCbidnxH ;^ ^ ^ Si 1 Si S8 •JBti}>xoda^ § 8 >*>*>* i S s ^ ^ :ii S o p 2 I ll I 5 be ll 2 ^ J a s £ BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 115 to to to «o to ro 8 S 8^ X % J5 « .8 2 2^ ^ ;9s 8 icj % ?? ^ 8 5^ .2^ ^1 ^1 8 8 a ^ s s ^ <2* '^^ M « « a 3> 2 S) 8 « to to s ^^ ^ s, 5 ^ 8 8 S, « to « 00 O ^ 00 to $ 8 R *5, P5 II « M » 8 8 ^ S» 8 8 S 2 w to to 10 o «o 10 c« ^ M vS ^ to « to (<« \S to w as:; ►-> Ci « M 0« M >0 - % R 8 •R V S ^ to « to % S» 8 R •1 W M M t>» to W - s8 I? 35 55 S ll s s 11 ^ ^ JT ?? ^ p^ % ^. ^ s ^ 8 •9 a 1 8 8 •si ^s= i >. JH >. ^ ^ ^ n C I I 8 8 •S "d a 8 II p. ii6 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT •73 a u o o c^ 00 M v6 00 H I CO » o to pa w w o to o w to {-" dJ8BJ3AV 5^ •i^ 'S r<. M lo ^ a S? ^ *^ r*5 **i O ^^^g^S^S»«'5>5»?>8« '89i£oiduia lo >o n ;t g, S £ ;:; ^ 8 "S 'SdiCoidm^c 9> u-> vo « NO •♦ Ov 1^5 o S !? K2S);jJ8%>?!««8^ oXoidmH « •♦'OOO o to^^^o 5 » ^ JO 2* o ''1 8 8^ *89iCoidnx^ fl to ^ to •*> M :§> ^ ? 8 8 8 BaXoidma Ci to M >0 « » M *s9iCoidin3 <2^ % 'JBapjoddH ^ Q ^' to p Q 2 (0 Z o p u S •o h bo •O 2 9 9 3 9 i4 1 § s 2 5 8« BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 117 M 00 1 <5? 45 4^ ^ 3; s- 4J "^ " 4» ft 8 ^ ^ 1 ^ ^ ?> 8l ^ 4J •^ ft 45 5 s8 4» iX « 8 9 ^ « lO •A. *i2 5> 2^ 88 ^ ?i ft -1 f i 00 00 00 cT J? JQ ft ^ .0 .0 5 ^ vg^ gJ 8^ ^ « to 3: 9 41 '^ 4^ 4fr 4» 8 * 2 ft R 'g S, 2 R w fO s> ^ 1 1 2 J? ? 3^ 8 8ft ;j .0 .0 ^ 5 ;t v8 41 ft 4S S , S CO 4^ 4J - " 4» ^ r 8 % s j;- *" ^ 2* "* {? ? t 2 8? ^ {? J? % ^ ^ ft 2^ 8 ' >s 4J '^ s 4; 1 ? s 4^ JQ 2^ ^ « « « g ? 2 ^ 8 « = ft Ov 10 Jf ' 3 t cr J? :: « S »> 8 8^ J? 8 « ^ ■8. s! * 4» '^ 4» 2> 8^ 8 45 "^ "* 4» 8 " 2 J? 1 ^ 2» ^1 JT O^ CO 2 3 ^ 1 V, CO g J? ? 8 ft « « « ^? 5? 4» 8^ _4i (1 P; ^ 4»^ % « - s 10 -n- 8^ to « 5 ^ f '^ 8 s g ? 5 ^ «0 N 2 & 5 i « S <5o- a- ^' ^ £ -0= ^: ^: s 2 ^ 85 a a 11 J ^ ^ S 55 » 1 1 1 i E ■§ to 1 1 i s a 1 2 ^ > •0 s •1 1 a 1 1 1 s 3 1 1 . 1 a c 1 b I •0 a M 2 8 B I e i . . ii8 a; .9 C o 00 M lO 00 M I CO « CO o to o5 Oi CO" W O < to o CO to 0^ FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT S S> ■8 J s, a ^ " t^ »o * O t>. NO ^ ?> S) « 5> 8 j; = ? ro O ^0 ^ 2. ^ ^ Ov * Ov S S 8 K3 S n2^ 8^ ^S^ ^ ^ « >2^ i;5 ^ ^ « Si \0 lO vO ^ « 5J S 8^ :? *n ^ o Os S. :^ \0 % of 00 Ov ^ « « 00 s »o "* t* w <^ 8 8 8 8. 8s O 00 ^ W 00 QO M as ,2^ ^ to * r^ •^ % % ^ S S 8 8^ i 3 - S S 2: 525 a S 9 i w z z a < £ S o o s ^ ^ fl 5 ii .y 8 'O iS X (n a ^ jQ c 9 a « n Pk £ c a 3 = . . J s BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 119 % % a 1 R S 3 3- 5- « « 10 -: CO « s 9 « ;^ 9> s?; s •8 « - to to ■^ to Jo ?> 9 1 - S" S' § 3J ^ t? ^ 8 so ^ NO vO ff Zi ^ 3 35 35 ^ S. Ci N W 'S ^ !^ « to to 8^ to 5o s ^ s. ^ S^ Jt s « \0 w *0 2" 1 ^ % ■s. ^ R s> to to to 5- to M C( c« « 00 1 ft i; a s ? 2 ^ 2 1 S- ^ * ft J5 8 R J? 5i 8 8 rO rO to to « !i v8 to to to to .3 ?5 * *- § * *" ^ ^ i^' so -♦ M 2 •^ t 00 ? »| a- - -1 - ^ P; >^ 8 « ►* Ci 3; g, 8 S5 w w to iQ M M •8. 10 f^ « W « « ^ •^ (>« M »^ 2^ « M « »o 8 J? ^? S. ^ 2 8 2^ « w to 5 M ^ ^ ^ '^ a § « 5- 00 to J? \n f* f* t- •♦ M 5> J to 'g 'R J J !o ^ ^ ^ 00 S S % ii \ >* >I pN* Jh' !zi ^ ^ 2i i •0 a 1 > > P^ 2' ^ ^ 1 z z E 1 3 i ; J : 1 g 3 S 5 3. S 1- i s "S a i J • OB 1 1 1- = a V 1 1 , a 1 S; ^ S « P» to : 8 8 'S to to <* to « M •* t^ 8 8 'g to to ^ to « M ^ r* S 8 c2> to to to ft to « M « •0 ::) 8 ^ to to to J? to n M II ♦ ft 8 v8 « « to p. w « M M •♦ « 8 J5 www w W M HI ■* w >o to M to N.Y.. N.Y.. N.Y.. i : : s Foremen, pressnn •d a et JS 2 I20 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT a; o c^ 00 M I vO »o 00 M 8 o\ ro lO f^ « « VO 5> IC'I^ 8 S» "^ lO -tf- to ^ S I ^ 8 8 i^S N « *0 i? iQ ^ ^ 4? « •V ^ M - f* lO ^ i? % 5C n (1 N «ft W •• Ci lO 8 5>i 2 lO I w « N vO n M vo % S 8 R S S s (^ I V 5 8 C4 M s % ^ I ^" S, 8 tC ! K to ^ w I »o 8 S> 8 S> S) % Jo ^ M C4 r« >o 8 8 a, 5) N M « , lO i? 8 S> 8 8 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 121 M 1/5 , to M M ! M K O ' 00 MM M r-l 8 8 ^0 M M 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 to to to tfJ 8 5) {?l >o « o r>. «» M ^ »>. M !5J ^ t-. lO 1^ M «» 4» « 00 M 15 s? 8 a M «» *» ^ 00 M % ^ }ff Si M t^ S> v8 O 00 " 00 !^ «??> 5. 9> !? « M to M ►< M lO to »^ M « K2 ^ ^2^ 8 S^l 2 ?, ?.! 8) a M M M I A •O ^ M 9, a S> 8 ^ 8 ^1 :^ *5, % "^ •O 00 M rj ♦ M •ft to to a « § I " u S c< 8 I a a o a d :a Pi U 06 Ptf p. •o i C c •0*0 a It i «t to S 8 e § III a a ^ e C I a a 122 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT •73 c c^ 00 M I vO »o 00 M I CO <1 w >^ «o CO Pi O Pi w CO O to O CO W 1 -^ 1 * ; - 1 £ « « & ^ « S «» t 8 8 o 1 o r>. lO ^^ V? v5 'saXoidtQH t^ lO a ^ sC ■ o JO NO N ■^ « ro ? 8 Sv •8 3; R ^ to 1 >o 1 VO ■* 00 « 00 to S •♦ VO « r« 1 00 ^ S» 5 ^ 8 2" s {;5 s* « . « VO *89^oidmH VO JJ 00 rt VO 00 O VO VO o ^ c< VO 1 OO 00 00 f: vS ^ a «> ?5 S* 8^ « «» 'B9i(o[dmH « ^ ;r N >* vO o VO VO 1 W 1 ^ *>-■*« JO 1 8 SJ 4» ^ S 8 'Sv i:? 8 ? «» « to •♦ N ^ vO o VO n 00 w « c« VO 1 v5 ft 8i vff 8 8 8 <5? M 4» 'M^oidat^ « « ■" « M VO r^ r« n * M « W *f) -89iCoidma jaqranN Ib;ox <5^ ix ^ "^ ^ % 55 '^ a» R. M N N S ■JBni)JodaH II a a US a M a' ! : g "! ^, XJ (4 Qi 1 g 1 a 1 a i i z z 1 s •d 9 1 a 1 ' 8 1 si e J! c« S CO 3 5 I 1 = i I a 1 CO 1 p 1 1 1 a K C a CS 1 e 9 i I 4 1 ' R S K BUREAU 2 ^ S 8 I % % ^ 'S ft! S. P: « ^! « f^ "^ * % ^ ^ 8 S I I e e 1 1 (JP 15* S *?* ^ ^ 2^5 M (O lO o> »*> o ^ p. s « t^ ^ 1:1 I 9 s 5 i2 OF LABOR ri) M NO 8 S ^ S P. 2 J? i^ % 2 R % « UJ % ft ?} £ ft •R 8 ^' STATISTICS. 5 »S ft ft ^ ft o* 5) I K. I « « ^ ft '^ to N *n 8. 8 ^ a oi S 3 . lis — ^ ^ p o II 5^ 00 CO Pi < m o w of w o o <: Pi % <8 ^ s J? 1 *• 1 '^ 8^ 5 1 " 2^ i:. ? ! o 5 ^ ^ s>! p> ^ S 9 ^ ^ ^ S- •SdXoidoia 2" °° 8 «?> s '^ ; 5 N O « I 2 ^ i« 1 15 8 <§ ^ S^i 5- ^ « ft vo 'SdXoidtnH o vo o 2 ov « 1 JO 1 ^ M •««■ 1 >0 5 *" 2 « 1 R ^ «» R 5? 8 2 1 2* P5 & CO }? f^ g, o 'sa^ldma "^ * 1 ? J -«• « S •««• « »o ^ 2 ^ 1 t vS 15 S 5- 2 «' ?f - - - i - {? g^ 8 {f s: ff s- 'sdiCoidma « 00 O >0 r^ Ci j tr> 1 *• 2 1 M ^1 5^8. 1 1 2 S. o 5k (O •-« 1 M 00 VO t^ 8 g) S^ « 00 Ok S5 ^ ^ t 1 iC 8 <& K2 ^ ^ 00 i 5J 5* ?J. v8 •»Xoxdma « -* m « w c* I-' ■-« 00 Ov lO >o ^ vo 'saXoidma ^ % P. oT 1 2 ^ 2 9 « 1 « Ii M 'jSaivioddTf 5 u 9 5 s « ii S 1 M i 1^ ^ ) SI s 1 ^ » . -* a 1 1 ) ^ 1 1 1 » . = i •0 s o i 8 i 2 1 E ' c Si 1 - . BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 125 ^ vg; s 9 ::\ :f. 00 >8 I R R S 0^*0 •«■ ?: % % s> O lO i S « a e 8 ^1 1 !! % ►- Ov I JO {? ^ « i « ^ 8 8^1 ;t s ft 8 « '^ 8 m ^ ov 8 8 I I a a « a o. a CO CO ft 2 ■ 8 8 8 8 J? I « ^ 10 to (1 I ^ c( r« ft M to «o « I N M M M I OC •^ « to N N N (>« J 8 ft M to N M N M Ci 8 8 ft J5 to « « •-• f« N M M 8 ft 8 N M f« « « fi M « « « 2 i ^" a a 2 I bo e B ft t* to ' •o W « N ■ « 8-8 8 < :S « N fi 8 Sv « to to « N « ft P. ft' N n M , M (>« r« ^ S5 8 K2 N to ►* N M Ci VO f« N N » « II 'R >S to « V to ft ft 2 «o •««■ to ft N « •♦ 00 ft S» 8 «o to to to N « « SO ft 8 8 to « to CI w « w >0 8 8 8 to « to c* e» « >o 8 8 ft to « « ft « « M VO ft 8 8 M r* M « M « to « M •♦ p; III I- ' 1 i. bo B 5 ' of •n 8 •i 126 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT no ^-* d o VO 00 CO Pi g w of o < Pi >2r •« 5> y 1 ^ ^ t t fO »0 « 8. g 1 S? 2» 8^ ? t 8 S> « » 8 8 8 8 <<«- lO to ro ^ J S 8, 00 'saXofdma •<■•<■'♦ « 2- CO N (<« M 1 VO O vO VO N 5 t S> 8 8 {? 8 15 8 iC Jo « I*- •♦ « to J S- « 8 OS. •ediCoidma •««■•♦•««■« •* CO « « « VO « 8 ? « t 1 {5 8 8 (IS- a> 8 8 Jir to ro « « v8 S «g» J? JQ S 'WiCoidina ^ « « « o 00 M n CI VO a- 2 ^ « 5) 1 8 45 8 a 00 J^ J? S, 8 fO to « «o to S ^ ^ S, S5 'nXoidma e« M N ^ o 00 n M n VO 8 2^* a f 8 8 5) 5 ^ « « M •8 N 2 8 8> ?> S* e« r« r« M M ? IC ^ M M « Jo ^ 8 J? {? M e« e« N ft « <2^ « R '•dXoidnia «««•«*• o 00 ** ^ « r^ VO in j^ -«■ 5^ "is ^ a> 'S «■ % Z H ti ^ •s, S S "& « 111^ 1 2 1 ^" § a 3 !z: a s a ^ 1 8 : i § i » : i 1 » = 1 o i 8 1 •i e 5 r i s 2 8 ' 2 = i 8 1 1 . , 'ft S ^8 3 3^ % o « ^ 8. - n N '- 1 «C 00 s I? n ^! ^s- S5 ^ S; ^ ^1 ^ «» BUREAU OF »o VO S «0 00 M -^ O •Sv S5 « LABOR STATISTICS. ft S* 5} ^1 ? = « ^ i;? ^ ^ ft 5- ft 5- 00 o 127 \0 >0 9k ^ 00 o " 8 lO Pi O w W O o CO SSVJdAV ? & » >? n8 'S M 1 ^ •5. £> «g VO to R t « s ^ ^ ^ <£> :? 8^ « t-» a ^ VO * Si « s M 1 ^ 3 ^ 35 » s IS S 5» 2 s- S •sdXoidma 35 J^ !lo •a - % - a ^ ^ 00 t « 5 ^ h R % 5> 8. S> g, M M M Ov 'sa^oidnia 'g; 2 ^ % •^ > \o t^ f« vJP 00 VO 1 S 8 ^ s ^ 8 ■* r>. »o Ov ^ S^ S> ^S 00 00 N 8 S 8 8 S o o o n I f« Q r^ » SJ S? 2 gJ 00 00 ^ c< « 8 S VO vg* jr s- ^ % 1^ v8 « ^ M OV 00 ■s. 3 8. IS I >^ 3 2 2 i> s s s ^ a I •S •s a s I30 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT a o O ON 00 00 M I CO Pi < >^ lO g 0ti w of pa o < to O CO W ^ « 1 ^ ^ ■ R 1^ oc * 2 3i S- **i ro •8 PO t <» 1 8 R J2 ON I S) nS" ON f-i . to «o « ! 8^ CO 'CdXoidiuH ^ 7f ^ ^ ^ « •♦ vO : : ;l 1 : I i ^ J8 >o 8 ; !? •* a C4 'td^oidmH •S, 8 ^ ^ ? « •* >o « I :|i i : 1 5> -^ ^ S % 1 ^ ^ ^ n2> : 8 ' 1? ?> « '« ro ro « 'SdXoidniH ;35 en 00 >o 5- « 00 ^ I ! I : ; : t S 55 35 gii s? *» 1 88 JCJ o j ON o 00 00 : ; : I I 1 1 ■♦ 'i?, S I 8 M 1 «0 nS fO 'SdiCoidmH ^ u> jj vo <3- 00 00 1 ^ 1 M ! i i : i i 1 , 1 i? 8^ Sf> ;^ ^ ^ 5 5}. 'S : 8 M 1 C« ^ 88 ^ « -nXoidma 5 "^ S? ^ h NO 00 •* : : : ; ; 'SdXoidmH |. s s. ;s « % % ^ 1 § 1 ;.' : tfi : : ; £ ^ £ & & j, : : i a c 3 ' 1 3 I 1 < : III a e i i s i i 1 ' 1 1 1 1 1 s 3 1 b V BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 131 :^ 2 ' 5 s ' ^ •i? > 8 1%. to %• •* ? « <2»| 8, J9 8 ^ 8 CO ; : : i : : ; j i i J? ^ M M R 2 % S 8 P; ?> 8 a ^ •* »o j j i : : M : : : : a ^ 5 ^ S? 5 ^ 8 8 : ; , : ; ; j i i ;t 8 ^ J? 2 ^ S» J^ to IQ i' i i i i ; ; i j % 10 8 8 J? 8 "S 8 (8 : : ; : : : : ". I : : i i 1 ■ 1 1 ! : i i i \ i & £ i ^ •^ 2 I t i & 1 M * ^ ^ i « •0 S i 1 1 i 1 a 1 5 » Puddlers helpers.. Puddlers helpers.. Totals and zv 1 1 j 1 " - . 8' 1 3 I J 132 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT S=3 S S8 S^i^'S-ft'R'&S SffS" M M n MmMmMMMM CO o t3 o u O O O z w w w E Q O < < CO 2^ 35 a Ci M M 3 a^5>^;^o<3"8iJ^3'J^2 8'^P5'8 ^S 0^00'«OO^vO (<< tN.M OtS rOt^OO C« •«f — to « to Z O o u o a "3 •« n A4 n -£4 S S W S S S '£ d 3 I sag 8 S I 2 :z. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 133 to M ro -< i-i««-fONf»i-ii-iMWf0«*O « ^?3,^s «s-88 K^ ^ "S % ^ ;; ??j5'8^R>2rs' r* >• M M M M MCImmmmmMmM M M^^MMM MMMMMMMMMMMdMN l«.?iS|?2JJ^SS>^JJ = 5<^^§>J •3 J3 I 1 b0 a a s 2 ii e ^ S a S 8 a e E I a 8 I ^ I II III I I ^ a9SotaA4i4o{K<£fa£ o 134 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT a o O Pi < CO It 1 8: •<> ^ 5 2 'S 5 5» ^S to »- l^y5»5.5>8^88(g'^8»88'5.5,*R88^ f 5 " 1 P.s??I.«8*R^*2^'885 5 12. S g^ sdsiMdza •wqio iiv gj^g. \^ ^ "^ a ^R "R R iry 1 CO i S IK ^ ^ S ;s ^ i S> S % 3 ,s 2^ S- Pi p< «a|q;oiD S S ^ - 1 ^ ^ 1 9 ? 5 ^ >8 ^ 3^ g o •» 1 • 5 «??> jr a 8 !t ^ • ? J? 55 9 > vS 1^ S ^ i4 POOd 1 s ^ ■ J ? ? i ? S 5 — ( 5) Q (0 Z S (K> J5 5 $: ^ C- 8 MOM s >g> s ^ w o ;«»« vg^ j5 ? » ? »> a C i? ^ ,2f ^ ^ 5 5?; X! Q v> 03 s s 8 8 ^ 8 s (S >8 ^8 s )anomv 1^ 1- r' >0 vO S ■ 1 g ^ 1 5 ^ 1 5 « 'Z 2 < ".^° •1 M f1 2^ P; 5- li « « « « , o « lo ^ m •♦ «o ^ 9J8BJdAV ^ P pdiCoidui^ sXbq 1 ^ « ^ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 «3Ba9AV o ^ 55 ■ HH « fa S o CO to < 2; < o u* o S o Q H >* 03 g 0^ n 1 < s ^ - - - - ' 8 s _^ e 4 5 e D 5 i ' < CO CO 1 1 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 139 1 1 1 1 t 1 1 t 1 t I 1 1 1 1 ? 1 : : : 5- : : : : : : 00 ; 5 00 00 ' i : : i : i : & 8v *i2 5" J? 1 8^ *5- 'S) 5 J? ^ ^ ft ^ % s? « in ft 00 » ^ ^ 3: 8. i^ 2 - ^ ? 3v ft J? n 8. J 8 i ^ "S ^ ? 5^ 8 'ft ft 8 8^ 1? 55 ^8 (2* 8 1;: ^ ? 'ft ^ ^ 3; 1 ^0 i S8 1 R s "8 2 1 ^ 5 3 5? ?5 8i % % 5? Jo ft 5; ft 35 t^ s ft 5^ 5- "R 8 Jo « 8 J 8. 8 (X K2 8. |0 - « ^ 'ft 8i 5 S 1^ <2^ 3v ^ ^ 9) 10 3- ^ § 52, 8 5 JO ON f: '#" ^ •R ?> 5 ^ 25 00 £■ « ft n •^ « •0 s ^ M ft ? so S & s- 5 & & ^>. S- ■^ -^ ^ ^ ^ -^ -^ 1^ ig^ ^ ?^ ^ ^ ? s to e 08 B S o 140 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT e o O < * £ 5 n* c« m n c^ D H a HH a Q ?, 2; ^ W to CU ^ X S m 04 Q W 2; •4 HH tc pa g s <3 •J c^ < w H > S R f^ S^ ijr 8 8^ P, <8 5 2 S y S: ^ ^ J5 5, S 00 00 S> CD : 8^ '^ "^ % S^ ss % S^ Si C 5 <3- J? 2 ^ *8* OS :: % 7h ♦o p« 00 ►* ro 1^ O 00 N 8k 00 ft ^ §■ ^8 5^ !? 8 ^ cJ? ^ 'R fO 0> »>• O^ •-• ^0 I?) 06 ^>. !>. r^ v5 '^ ? a I' !» t S .,s^ -S^ -S^ ^ ^ *2* ^ 15 *8 ^ '8 'S *§ 'S » ft a s- ? ? J ? S S ^ ^ % % % ^ ^ 1^ ^ r^ % ^ s "^ % Z' f5 5 2 8 5 S S 1^ S ^ 8^1^^ 5- t-^ r^ r>. t^ t^ ^ « 'fi ^8 ^ ^ ^8 2 5 o H I E. f: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 00 ■ I 00 00 do 09 53 oo • I oo oo oo 141 i S" : « S 35 ^ S S « *=£ «0 ^0 ft. 5 >? 35 8 ^? h« tN. M R ^ \0 t^ (g^ {I? 5 2 'g J^ 8t ^0 VO «0 5 ? « 5^ >? « f. S •R. f: ? 35 IS s I p. ^3^ 5> S" iS CO « ^ € ^ I ? S 5 I ? 8 1 5 1^ % ^ zi ^ R i? J? ^8 3. :? « g) .8 S 8^ J? 8) ^ S >o 00 t* 'R j^ a s s? 2 2f 2 S; 3; 5- S? ^ vS ^ 8 «o *ft 08" 3; « "8 « 2* ^ R ^ % R 5 ijr ^ •S. 8 J^ S. vS" «3- ^ ?o o ^ o* s & & f & 5 s J ? ? J J ? ? i>. t>. t>. r> r^ t^ t^ t^ w « « w w « M r« ei «<« M n e« I •a a •Eo 142 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT a JWA III • 1 • f t 1 1 t 1 t 1 o O 1 ^ » ? » Sl> 5^ 1 ^ ) -♦ 5 paABS ' S > CO JO a. 1 ^ tt ^ CO ^ S ^ ;S J5, 5> 'S 1 2* S> S, S • « ^ Pi < > S 2 ei M M M M « » -Ss 1 5 t 1 ^ 'ft :? V? ^ "R 5 <2 ^ ' S> « 8. iQ » «nm;oiD & . '^^ ^ ? ? ^ ^ « ^ 5 ^ S> 5 ? Di -< § O i % ^ ^ ^ 'ft » i!^ 1 8 S5 ^ S. 'S. :? ^ o pooa 1 ^ S S U S 1 ^ JT ft 'S S 1 § CO ft ^S (»» P; *8v 2 'Sv 1 r^ « ^ • 5 a S >? ^ % % ^ z Z ^ S ' 5 5 ^ ;^ !? '^ 5- f 1 S 5 £ 8. S "S "S > 3 CO • i $ m *♦ Q ".tip 3. 8^ « « « 8 '^ . S 00 o S . & § jdd (1 f > Ci to M « ei ^ c» > CO « i4 -< 9:8Ba9AV %" J5 pdXoidmH sXbq 1 « 1 1 1 1 « ur ! ? ? S ! ? S S •< £ dSiudAV , , o o > 2 HH (0 pa g o (0 O < B p fe g s o . ^ t ^ > b 1 « fii t < « cd IS C 1 ' 1 ^ a " H ' ID * ' " ' ' " * CO s s BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 143 1 1 t 1 # t I 1 1 1 1 t 1 I t 1 t 1 1 1 J • ; ; : 1 • ; : ; 9> [ : I ; ; I « « i;5 s ^ ' ' • • • ' ' • • a ' • ' • • !? 00 rj J? 00 « ^ R 5i- ff « % J? ^ s- Ok 8 « S^ ;x 1? 00 ^ J^ J? R 3 £ •* ft 1 ft 'R 8. ^ **» ? ^ to £ ^ ? 5 ? ? 'S •R. (!? JT 5- xO K •a- ^ S; ft S •8 R ^ t ? ? J '^ ? ? § i 5 ? s 1 I •0 to 5 o» ^ 10 8J a J? 1? 8^ g» ^ ? J % w iQ 8. ? S' ft « m ft % J13 ft 5. % J? ?? ^ ft ft %■ ft ft ^ 5? 'ft 5^ 9 {0 5^ g^ *n ? J? % S s; 8^ V. *??. & •8 8t ? S ^ ft ^ !J ^ » «* tN. s « ? t ^ ^ 'R 5^ ? s- eg' tt ^ J S ? B = 3; 5> 00 ft %■ S s ^ % 3. ? 8 S!> ft £ •^ a ft CO 1 ^ S 2- NO ^ $ s ^ ft t f 35 ^ § 1^ a ^ 1^ fO ft ^ i? 2" ^ 9 8 « ^ ^ ^ ? ^ ft %i ** « n ei w « •^ •^ c* w « C« n M w ro ro to to to 'S ^ ^ t t t ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ i ^ ^ 5 ff g & J:; S? J? » s § a d OS 144 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT p JB3A 1 ' 1 ' ^ B i ^ t s ' ^ s s s^ 1 a % i!^ % 5 • pdABS 2 ox ro 00 ; i CO Ot (S 2 CI 8^ 5 ? ^ 3; 2 IQ S 58 % pj: SMUddza i^mo iiv « 8 ? ^ ^ 8. ^S 5 iQ s ^ s; s f5 ^ ^ ?? « « JIJ 'S & iH ^ & $ ^ ^ J5> ? 5 S. 5 t 5- 18 8» 5 2* Q o !«»« 5 ^ ? 1 ? 5 = 2 5 'R « P: 5 >2» 2 CO «fl CM ^ g . 8 8 >? 2- >S ? >£ R 8 ^ :8 8 ^ 8 If 8. 5 ^ 3; S5 n ^ w rt «*> f > ei M ^ nJ 98VJ9AV «» <* < to paXofdniit SiCBQ ? J ? ? 8^ «- S ~1 ' 1 ^ f ^ ? ? f « dSBJdAV s s , o g o w z > HH CO « s O < i4 (4 0) ^ W H O > Z o Q i fe c» S O >< ^ o I 2 > i Oi ij s > t • OS s a « • = • ' H 8 - - , . - ^ t) ^ o w PQ X 1 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 145 If t 1 # t : t 1 1 1 t t } t 1 t 1 1 1 1 ! 1 ! ! ! 1 ;';;;•;;; !;::;!; ft * §> s §- .if 8 y ^ 5 ft ^ !« R 00 R R •s s S' ^ ^ « *» I? 8. J? 5* 00 4? 2 s <2 8. •8. 8 8 5» 5- 9 5? 5^ 1« •5. ^ 8 8 ^ t ^ & ^ 'R ;? R f « ^ « 00 i ON S € R ^ •0 ^ ^ 00 8. 8 ft •ft ft to 'ft K2 •* ^ 3; 8^ !« £ 8^ ft R 00 8. S % <3 S5 3- ro ft Si ^ % r* « 8 ft 2 III ft ft S5 1 v8 ft 'R ^ 8 2 ^ 3S « ^ R ft ft 8 •ft 1 ft «5, S- 8^ 3; ^ '^ K ft 9 ^ « S « >8 J^ J? 112^ 1 ^ §> ^ ^ ^ 1^ 1 ^ ^ ^ g g s « ^ g S 5 o S s 146 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT JBdA 1 i 1 1 1 1 t 1 1 1 i t i 1 ^ -ss "~5 -^ RdABS I 00 •s M CO ^ ^ !? t>. s S 'S Ss ^ <£ oc ;r ^ « < Msnadza J^qio iiv 4» <£ 1 »s 00 € ! ?, ^ 3 . g: s2 ft s t 8 M ^ 5 ^ s s R 5 58 S g ^ s 10 « «niqjoiD £ S ;;] *o < ti. v» ** "^ ** "^ •^ Pi^ s R ?: •s « <^ 8 ' ,? J5 t: ^ ff 2f .J? g pooa a *2 CI g § 00 « ? 5 3 § ? ^ ? CO % 5 r> R 9 ^ 1? :; 'R 8 *» f^ g> J? 2 I P 5 S5 ^ 5 5 s !; J5 S Jt •8 J? D g £ ? ^ S "^ R •?? v8 5 ? 8 % ^ 8 »*" tr « -< dJSBJdAV «i pdiCoidniH 1 § ~^ g 1 g t t 1 1 1 t t 9J8BjaAV tl3 H Z W ^ & HH CO W g s 55 P fe (0 u s & h ) >* e : e cd S . §: <5 c ed 1 i 1 S 1 : : : : : h ** r : - : , H D 1 1 CO s • i R J^ BUREAU 5^ i I !» OF LABOR 00 00 00 00 STATISTICS. 00 I I 00 OO 00 00 00 00 147 : I A 9v 00 00 00 s % ^ R % "S ^ ^ \ % vS rt r« >S o lO 00 ro 00 \3 S «o 55 JP 2 9 ^ 8^ Y^ % «» s? [^ «2- 8^ « ? s- s ct ^ OS ?t J^ gj v? a^ «2 'S 3; ? J ^ ft « w « J^ fi- 8 *S. 3- p; ^ ft s^ !£? r? ^ % ^ ^ ^ S % % 8^ 2^ I ^ 55 ;s ?i 8^ 8 3 s- >? ft m o *ft v8* »o f: 5» S* » S IS* 8 «8 2f 'ft ^ 2 j;- IQ S to ^ ro !*> »0 ro I lO ^'8 ^ 5 s g !;> 5^ 3. O « M to irt ^ v8 NO VO "ft 9 !5i « ^ s; ? % % 00 »o n w « {? fi- j;- C* M « fr& ?l?????i???g?&l ! 1 a 5 ^ I e 148 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT •*-i JB3A 00 s £ s i s ^ « ' 1 00 = i • ^ 1 a • a ■8 t 5 . <2 s > !; T ' % 10 paABS s « ^ ^S a ^ i «^ ^ « ^ J? CO D5 «55- J: ^ « N 2 . £ > ? \ ^ % \ < 10 S98U9dxH ■»mo iiv ? ? s g ? 'g , g ■ S s Si 8 ?!>?•?? CO « Pi % ^? !? ? . fl "R {^ 'S. 1 ^3" 3 ^ 5 ^ <2 s? ?. •4 POOd 8 cttOW fOfOwl « 5 ^ § } «o »^ '^ to II4 1 CO ^ g> s > '^^ S. 5> ? i « 5 « 15 ? . R ? p< 1. J ^ 9 !? ? ) ^ , p ) 5 . s? 9 ;f in s 5^ ^o 3 > S 8 « CI > *«■ ' *5 . ? 5 ^ , R: "8 Q s 8 ;«« 3^ s s > ^ ?> ? s s : % 5 ' 3 \ 5 g 5v fO «/ I ^I? 9, ^ OS !^ M > 3 ; ? ^ ^ « S ^anocav 1^ ^ 1 3>i g 1 >s * 5 » ? : g > C ' S ^ pa 2 Q g ";?jp ■a s- £ » ^ rr ft -5 > « > r> • S . s : 5 i ? §8 jda f4 e« N ro ro « n pt « c» f ) '^ w r/1 •< 9SBJ9AV M •< pdiCoidmH §• §• 8" a- 8- 8> 1 ^ 8^ 8^ 8^ g' g^ 5^ 8^ W dJSudAV S a H Z > HH in W Z s < OJ •< Z i W H a > < Q < B I c = ' t z z 1 a c 1 s • ; ; I 1 a! A A 08 < a a S r 2 = z z - 3 z r = P > li! w 1 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 149 ^ S ^ S i S^ il^^^^^^ il^^^S^cg^ 8 s J?) s- S" i;; i« S* 'JS- ^3' ^ S? S5 ? 5, ^ S. :j t 'ft <3f ^ (2 00 t^ 3; ^ 2 55, w ^ <*5 8 j; :; ? !? ^ 8^ 5. r. a 15 'R ^ ^ ;^ !$ ^ 85 5 5^ .8 S? g, 5 "2 ^ ^8 8 10 vO 10 « F. «? 3» ^ 8 8^ fr ? 8^ .2^ IS S3 * f^ cK ov 00 10 t^ N »■ M M Q w « N N « « 8 3; s? a ^ ,8^ s ^ 'S S g' 8 S '^ ^ % "^ "^ ^ ^ ^ J? « « !? 05. o O PI 00 r^ «5 to ^ to >0 00 « ^& ;x 5; R oJ *ft iX ^ 8 3; S- S <§•£:• 8 2> « N « « to to P* ^ a 5 a 5- ^ ?, ^ 8 i?j ?t a a -s ^ ^ m to -if -^ ^ g- g» ^ j: ^ "^ M M M OV ^ 3; 8 % 00 10 O 00 Ov 00 M C>< l-l M M M r^ r<. I-. t>. r>i tp to 3* 5* a 8 I a & g e r s I I50 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT 1 I99A J 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 6 1 s, 3; g> 5 •r s I»A»6 O 5; OS JJ ^ ff w « ^ s> ^ ^ ~^ M 8. S R - 3: 5 R Vdsoadza »qiouv G ? 5 ? ? ? « ? ^ % t^ lO u aapnoD 1 M M M M !fi ^ <^ 49 ^2^ 5 5 CO s § i ** Pi ^ ^ o & ft ^ S % ^ ^ 5 « St g pooa 1 l^lt Pi ? ^ i S i::- S g. CO > £ % ^ % ^ § 5 1^ < a dSojdAY O O « z > 9 HH (D W g ^ i «»J 3 ai 55 W H > 2 o § <3 Q O ■ I i j > >< (4 1 1 • 00 < E ' ' ' "3 1 1 > J ^i S : 5 : , D s 3 CO c P 4 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 151 t 1 1 t 1 t II 1 t t t i i s 5 .3 CO ;:!:;!; ? ^ 5 35 ^ <2 R 5 9 ^ 2^ iC» « JC' « M W « « f1 « 00 fO So 8» ^ 10 pt — vo go »o N t» t^ i*) «*) O cK 8 ^ J5 ^ S5 8 2* S. $ ;s R 55 ;^ 5* 2- ^ *5> 5? !? ^ !$ ^ 5; <;? IS 15 S s ^ 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 P> ^ 8 ^ ^ i^ '^ n ^ ^ "e, ii •-• ^ ^ ^0 >0 •* 8 to 8 00 r^ 8 ^ 5|»- to lO ^ ^ to ^ §§§§§§§ riifi?! e I 152 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT TABLE SHOWING OCCUPATION, LOST TIME, WORKING TIME AND ANNUAL, EARNINOB IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES. IRON ORE. No. OCCUPATION I/)«t Time, days Work Time, days 1,884 5.315 118 1,134 3.165 4.973 3,132 494 68 558 .... 313 394 858 1.844 5.04a 171 768 3.883 7.759 6 307 i.»95 120 1.132 4.307 6.648 15 294 318 934 I.I36 4.195 38 598 .... 313 439 2.065 83 543 17 296 99 214 15 1,863 I 312 3i6 35 2,469 27 286 79 547 15 298 Wages aay Averasre annual earnings Blacksmith Blacksmith's Helper Brakeman Brakeman Cagemen Conductor Drill Sharpeners Miners Draymen Engineers •• I I 58.0 I 50.5 » 430 1 87.0 2 06.5 4 21.5 1 70.5 238.5 2 32.5 I 540 1 65.0 I 99.5 1 70.5 1 58.5 2 30.0 I 76.0 I 54-5 I 65.5 4 710 J 93.5 I 94.0 I 43.0 1 76.5 2 86.0 4 24.0 I 99.0 $2,376 00 1.368 00 732 00 298 00 58600 290 00 37400 500 00 1,117 00 488 00 52900 72700 367 00 380 00 518 00 436 00 380 00 621 00 64700 30300 324 00 1. 371 00 54800 568 00 29300 57800 700 00 1,304 00 446 00 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. TABLE SHOWING OC5CUPATION, 167 LOST TIME. WORKING TIME AND ANNUAL EARNINGS IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES. MIXBD IRON AND STBBI«.— Condnued. No. OCCUPATION Lost Time, dajTS Work Time, dajTS Wages aay Average annual earnings Foreman Bricklayer " coke oven. laborer Machinist... MUl Scrap piler. . Shear room. Yard Heater Forge cleaners Gateman Hammer driver Hammerman Heater help Hammerman's help . Heaters Heaters help Hooker up Iron tester Janitor Lighter up Mason helper Ore crusher Revcrser Shearmen Switchmen Lineman Lathemen Levermen Machinist as 440 82 7 6 95 399 no 83 38 50 367 166 "5 lOI 5 47 86 303 7 93 91 64 48 313 290 1438 643 6a6 831 306 345 307 844 2,205 829 230 275 263 572 460 198 212 308 313 3U 226 227 636 306 220 535 562 265 $ 43-5 2 750 2 24.5 3 20.5 7 06.0 2 75.5 4 25.0 2490 443.5 I 29.0 I 30.0 I 63.0 5 52.0 I 45.5 I 40.0 a 06.0 1 79.0 I 50.0 I 66.5 1 35.0 2 II. 5 I 39.5 I 47.5 I 59-5 I 35.0 I 77.0 I 55.5 I 61.5 1 42.5 2 70.0 $1,360 00 797 00 53890 1,030 00 2,210 00 613 00 1,300 00 85900 1,362 00 363 00 35800 451 00 1,270 00 400 00 368 00 39200 412 00 29700 353 00 416 00 662 00 438 00 393 00 362 00 286 00 542 00 342 00 432 00 400 00 715 00 l68 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT TABLE SHOWING OCCUPATION, LOST TIME, WORKING TIME AND ANNUAL. EARNINGS IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES. MIXBD IRON AND STBBI«— Concluded. OCCUPATION Lost Time, dayt Work Time, days Wages oay Average annual earnings Roller Weighman Straighteners Runner Scrap piler Hammerman Hammermen's helpers. Shearmen's helpers Sheetfloormen Shippers Stocker bos) Storekeeper Teamsters Master Mechanic Matchers Millwrights Millwright's assistants. Oiler Oilroom hands Ore grinders Ore wheeler Patternmakers Picklers Picklers helpers , Pitman Porter Puddler Roll cleaners Roll turners 107 61 180 6 71 7 24 406 177 1.359 III 18 182 98 1.340 590 154 132 35 296 227 30 109 104 853 206 252 446 307 242 306 602 1.472 449 3.962 202 295 444 215 2,416 1.288 1,098 191 521 68R 27S 643 1.598 1.651 283 356 204 522 2,277 S3 30.5 2 48.0 3 00.0 2 49.0 2 OZ.O 8 02.5 2 X6.5 > 52.5 1 50.0 I 95.0 2 50.0 1 45.0 2 96.0 3 26.0 1 80.0 3 03.0 I 87.5 I 54.5 I 76.0 I 590 1 77.0 2 59-5 I 74.0 1 55.0 I 35.0 I 48.0 3 20.5 I 23.0 4 60.0 $681 00 625 00 669 00 76500 48700 2,456 00 651 00 37500 33700 455 00 505 00 428 00 65700 701 00 362 00 651 00 514 00 29500 45900 54700 49200 55600 09500 426 00 382 00 52700 65400 321 00 1,048 00 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 169 TABLE SHOWING OCCUPATION, LOST TIME. WORKING TIME AND ANNUAL, EARNINGS IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES. BITUMINOUS COAL. No. OCCUPATION Lo«t Time, days Work Time, dajra 100 213 lao 193 23 289 IQ5 208 ao6 430 317 119 194 14 612 50 263 12 301 626 78 235 335 604 72 241 51 262 1,288 4.346 .136 490 72 24X 41 272 623 1.568 599 966 730 19 346 328 767 365 730 Wages day Average annual earnings BUcksmith Dumper Driver boss Dumper boss Engineer (hoist) Engineer and fireman. Fan man Fire boss Fireman Watchman Foremen Foreman haulers Tracklayer Hauler OUer Roadmen Shifters Slate picker Trimmer boss Weighmaster Engineers (hoist) " and fireman Fireman Mine boss Stable boss $x 83.0 1 57.5 2 395 2 20.5 2 00.5 I 72.0 1 68.0 2 05.0 I 69.0 1 42.0 3 10. o 2 22.0 2 06.0 2 15.0 93.0 I 64.0 X 80.0 I 59-5 1 88.0 2 17.0 X 82.0 2 16.0 1 90.0 X 67.0 2 28.0 I 30.0 390 00 304 00 663 00 459 00 421 00 545 00 326 00 628 00 444 00 428 00 970 00 522 00 414 00 518 00 244 00 397 00 441 00 38400 512 00 486 00 352 00 789 00 657 00 436 00 833 00 474 00 170 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT TABLE SHOWING OCCUPATION, LOST TIME, WORKING TIME AND ANNUAL EARNINGS IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES. COKE. No. OCCUPATION host Time, days Work Time, days Wages dav Average annuu earnings Blacksmiths Carpenters Charger Drawer Engineers Foremen Foremen's assistants . Leveler Oven repairer Watchman Chargers Coke bosses Dumpers , Engineer (stationary). Foremen Track laborer Loader Mortarman Watchmen 310 280 20 104 207 495 2,026 21 901 203 290 64 354 151 756 629 659 293 209 419 1.253 1,070 3*295 292 350 2,019 527 805 301 741 373 381 214 1,069 GLASS. $2 28.5 2 19.0 168.5 1 52.5 2 14.0 2 93.0 I 95-5 a 250 I 49-5 I 60.0 1 12.0 2 155 X 28.5 1 05. o 2 500 I 00.0 I 00.0 I 00.0 1 16.5 $479 00 481 00 494 00 319 00 44900 918 00 419 00 436 00 437 00 560 00 283 00 568 00 345 00 316 00 617 00 37300 381 00 214 00 248 00 Blacksmiths Blacksmiths' helpers . Glass blowers Glass gatherer Blower apprentices . . . Carpenters Laborers Laborers Laborers Engineers Flatteners 2 28.5 2 12.8 451.6 266.5 1 86.5 2 23 o I 43.0 I 29.0 1 27 o 2 18.0 5 50.0 56085 29836 88056 564 30 39682 66063 274 77 312 28 320 93 597 12 1,190 84 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. TABLE SHOWING OCCUPATION, 171 IX)ST TIME. WORBZING TIME AND ANNUAL EARNINGS IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES. GLASS.-Continued. No. OCCUPATION Loct Time, dmys Work Time, dajrs Wages aay Avenge annoal earnings PUtteners apprentice . Foremen (labor) Pumacemen Gaffers Gatherers Grinders Inspector I«aborers Machinisto Masons helpers . Mixers " helpers.. Mould makers .. Packers Batch wheelers . Blower bosses... Cutters Cutter boss Flatten ers Purnacemen Gatherer boss... I«ayersin layers out Leersmen Master teasers... Mixer Teasers 493 807 588 3.550 480 817 8,566 171 185 184 4,188 i|i57 609 774 3.098 225 312 114 47 1,234 582 77 542 359 153 1.395 73 987 759 5.140 1.025 5.602 2,528 2.337 313 2,939 20.9s6 455 441 442 12,714 3.538 2,521 1,730 9 735 555 728 406 213 2.926 718 183 1,278 421 367 1.725 187 2,133 I269.5 2 60.0 2 06.0 4 00.0 82.0 1 47.5 240.5 95.0 I 66.0 1 33.0 2 81.0 I 64.5 247.0 X 80.0 X 61.0 X 24.0 1 82.0 2 61.5 10 68.5 495.5 7 24.5 6 19.5 2 08.0 7 57.0 1 76.5 1 91 -5 1 96.5 453.0 2 61.0 2 330 $51 I 37 703 36 351 91 700 25 15946 38300 75300 23267 36830 30257 619 60 364 00 581 54 42456 40588 268 15 432 14 484.00 I 945 00 1 006 00 I 543 00 1 133 00 299 00 1 385 00 322 00 269 00 361 00 651 00 488 00 414 00 172 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT TABLE SHOWING OCXUPATION, LOST TIME, WORKING TIME AND ANNUAL EARNINGS IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES. GI5 144 482 81 858 124 4.884 749 803 67 246 Wages day Average annual earnings Master teaser Mixer helper Watchmen Packer Pot maker Pot maker helper Roller carrier Sand burner Shipping clerk .. Laborer Teamster Ware hand Warehouse men. . Watchmen Wirers Wrapper 3 02.0 2 01. o 1 48.5 1 74.0 2 90.0 I 98.0 1 13.0 2 01.5 I 88.0 98.0 I 87.0 I 92.5 I 83.0 1 31.0 2 13.0 I 25.5 797 00 49500 283 00 33627 931 86 475 28 379 " 45400 52962 18549 453 31 46392 52452 39988 42759 308 73 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 1 75 AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES OF COMMODITIES. YEARS i860. 1872, 1878. ARTICLES Flour, wheat, extra.. Flour, wheat, family. Flour, rye Commeal Codfish, dry Rice Beans, white Tea, Oolong Coffee, Rio. green Coffee, roasted Sugar, brown Sugar, coffee Sugar, granulated Molasses. N.O Molasses. Porto Rico. Syrup Soap, common Starch Beef, fresh Beef, soup Beef, rump steak Beef, corned Veal, fore quarter Veal, hind quarter Veal. cuUets Mutton, fore quarter . Mutton, leg Mutton, chops Pork, fresh Pork, salted Hams, smoked Sausages I^rd Quantities i860 1872 Per bbl. $664 J X095 •' 742 12 87 Per lb. 316 4% ♦• 2% 2K •• 5H 8K •• 6^ "^ Per qt. 854 loK Per lb. 5ih 69 •• 21 H 345i " 23 42% •' 8K loK t< 9 loH '• loK 12 Per gal. 50K 70 " 57K 76^ 63Ji 75 Per lb. 8K 8J4 " iiM "K •• ia% I9>i •• 55^ 7H " 16 29K '• 7K loK " 6% loK " xoK IJVa '• 14 28K •• 6K 10 •♦ "K 17% •• I35i 15^ " 9H "K '♦ toy. II '• llf^ 13^ •• IIH 12M *• 12/8 12K 1878 I 8 63 796 2 6 9K 8}< 6o5< iSH 26H 8K 9% 10 575^ 68 865< 8 9H H% 20K 8 105^ 153^ 20 io5i ilM i8J4 ID 9K 12M "5< 10>i 176 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES OF COMMODITIES. YBAR8 i860, 1872, 1878. ARTICLES Batter Cheese Potatoes Milk Kggs Coal, soft Wood, hard Wood, pine Shirting, 4-4 brown Shirting, 4-4 bleached Sheeting, 9-8 brown Sheeting. 9-8 bleached ... Canton flannel Ticking Printo Quantities 'i860 187a 1878 Per lb. Perbu. Perqt. Per do*. Per ton Per cord Per yd. 1 19K $ 39K "5^ 1754 74H 97K 5K 8K 22H 33% 6 40 9 25 7 24 10 12 496 716 9H 12K iiH 16 "K l4Ji hH 15K 15H 27 J^ 17K 26 9K 11 I 25K 97H 25 645 674 5 04 7% 9% 9 14K 17M 7K BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 1 77 AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES OF COMMODITIES. YBARS 1880, X884, i8qi. ARTICLES QnanUties 1880 1884 Per lb. 1 5H $ 3H " 4l 3K " Z% H '• A% 41 " 8 81 •' 30 25 ♦* io>4 91 PergiO, 6aM 57 '• 49% ^% '• 52% 60% Per lb. 5t 6J Perqt. xo?i 75i Per lb. 12% 12H " 37H 26 •• «H 14^ " loyi 9H " 15H 15% »* 3 3 •• 21H I9>^ '• asK 23K •♦ 40M 27 " 8| 7 " 8K 8>S Perqt. 61 7 Perdoz. 3ii I9t Perbu. 82>i 7a| Per lb. 625^ 57>i •• 8 9 Per gal. i8>^ 18M Per lb. 53 59 52H 14 I89I Flour, wheat, extra... Flour, wheat, tamily. . Coromeal Oatmeal Rice CoflRee, Java, roasted.. Sugar, granulated Molaaaes, N. O Molasses, Porto Rico . Syrup, sugarhouse ... Soap, common Beans, white Lard Butter, state dairy Cheese, state factory . Codfish, dry Hams, smoked Flour, tye Coffee, Rio, green Cofiee, Java, green ... Coffee, roasted Sugar, brown Sugar, coflRee -'C*' Milk Potatoes Tea, Oolong .. Starch Oil, kerosene. Tea, black Tea. green ... Tea, Japan... B. Bacon ... . $ 3H 3i iM 4>S 7M 32 sH 52H 47m; 43m; 4i 9M 10 31 I5J^ 10 12?^ 3l 19 25H a8H 4H 6 7M 23 85 47m; 178 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES OF COMMODITIES. YBARS 1880, 1884, 1891. ARTICI.B8 Quantities 1880 1884 189X Mutton chops Sausas^es Beef, roast Beef, chuck steak Pork, fresh , ... Pork, salted Beef, sirloin Beefsteak, round Beef, porterhonsc Beef, corned I^amb chops Veal, forequarter Veal, hindquarter Canton flannel Red flannel, twilled Coal, soft Coal, hard Wood, stove size Calico, ptint Sheeting, unbleached Sheeting, bleached, 4-4 Shirting, bleached Shirting, unbleached Sheeting, brown, 4-4 Sheeting, brown, 9-8 Domestic gingham Domestic shirting, plaids Domestic shirting, checks Ticking Denims, brown and blue Ingrain carpets, a-ply, all wool, lugrain carpets. 3-ply. al* wool. Tapestry brussels, 9-wirc Per lb. $ II $ 18 •• 7K 15 •• $ i^H ii5^ "K •• ii% 12 •' 13% 16 " III 15H " 19 i8| " 15 14K " 23 2^M .• I2ji II 28H •• ID 12% •• 15 16 Per yd. uH 14^ ia>^ •• 57H 47 44H Ton. 6 00 471 7 37 Cord. 5 87 487 Per yd. 7h 7 6>^ io>^ 8 ID 9 10 10^ 9 10 9% 8H 8>i III 1% io5i loK 9% 85^ 17 16% 15 16 14 13 I7l I5i 13 >9 15^8 i45< i 15 85 85 165 I 20 I 25 1 10 80 I 00 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 1 79 AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES OF COMMODITIES. YBARS 1880, 1884, 1891. Tapestry bruMels, lo-wire . Body brussels, s-frmme Blankets, 104 Calico Per yd. I 25 I 55 I 00 I 25 I 25 » 75 400 10 i8o FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Jddddd ^ S> :i Sr s- ^ N «» t^ o TO W 00 »o o dBos oc »* aMoig 'iBJSns o « r« o lO <♦ OS «» > J? ;? 1? 5* s3- >? 3^ i nddio 'BOX < l-H o o O o o o o "^3Bia 'TOX Si (2 8 f: -5, «& ^ i S «» 1 >! o o o **i f tTi 0\ \ O pa^SBOH 'oiH '»3jgoD « ^ ^ ?;• :? s- s- o 1 «* o O «o « -* ^0 fe w MIH ^fi 00 00 t^ \o NO r^ O *<* 'nq Jdd ^saBds O O N »0 00 o o ^ lO to XT fO •♦ XT l-H to O (A O a l»dW luoo (I) ?? ^ S!) S <3- J^ g^ hU •qi a»d 'anow 00 t^ t^ 00 ID »n t^ H «» > PQ •o o o ^ ^ 2 oo •qi j*d *no3Ba n 5 8 o o 00 rj M) Q fO 1^ Ox •- o tn w l-H PL, CO •qi Jdd 'aijoj a» 1^ »o 00 00 1^ ox ** 1 •d w a ed a a l-H OM PL, 1 V b) & 1 > 1 ' 1 = 1 ' 1 C < o o o o BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. « lo S « N 5? ON 00 O to 00 W < m > < < CO w o I— I laanBg 'siJms 6J9snoJX siP^OBia 898SVIOK HMJj 'j»da deos JBiSaufA OittOiq 'jBJSns ^OTiq 'TOX OMoS 'oiH 'ddjgoD K>fH 'iqq 'Jdd *jnoti •qi J»d *3[aoj O ec p S o'^ cc <• »/ a«2 9 « sS- 5 « « «* ^ S5 5 ^ J? S* M P» « « «0 M «0 « «*} 'T « M ?? ;s 5- ^ :s p; «» o o o o lO o r^ N ^ 15 J? J? 4» 00 o d t^ O O 00 o ID lO 'd vd 0\ « O O O lO i-i d> vd »*> ^ »o ed »o 5 ^ O o « o lO o in \6 >d >d o >o r>. o vd t>. > I xO fO O (^ §)§S?l*S ^ - 5 •§ « 8 II % \ i T "3 II 8 g s s c s 1 ""* a = II P. P. |l 8 S 2 t S ? BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 183 888888888 88888888888 »0 1- « •- w ««j - 88888888888888S888888 R S> S> ^ ^ 8 8 S» so iC ▼ VO* t^ 3\ ?? 5 5 ^ h is la Is: 8 I .H f: % % :^ :z "^^ \^ S' 'g. R ?j <2^ g *s. ^R io!ro>to»oc» !<>?. 8 ^ to to a a a B a 5 5 SSI. e 9 s a s U CQ 'J) 05 •a -g a 2 So n e V ft e o M et < O hJ Q < O < Pi o ► si S I 8^8 8 9; !; % 9 8 % R g. ? ? R •* c? <3'88883^889iS:?S'8%88 III |II|-|^5r^»I1^I o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o M M* ri m' CSSnS^V,9>P:%%d>^^ S;88!?888S$^88^!;;{l^a ^ ^ ^ ^ « ^ t^ f*i t>> ^ 8^ !? 5, « 9 o o o o o o o o o o O M r^ M fl M M « « « ^ to « o o o o o o d 0" d « *^ M* N i-i 00 000 ^o 00 >n >n ^ 6 6 « *** •-■ ; i i « : S J ; ; ; i : i ; i : : "5 ; 'C c ». a ; • ; ; I i i ^ ^ n II i J n I J 8. i ^ s J 1 1 B :1 •8 « * -8 ■9 .S *§ S m m lA S a a A cq I I o« O <«' S- 5? ^§{?tQ^^g3 ?g,^^8^c; O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O ti lO >6 « « « « «' — * •-•* ll* M W hi' m O ^11 O O ; • o o o o o o o I-* M fl 1 2 i t • c m s c 2 a il ■II 1 1 1 £ II J 5 .1 ! « J 5 1 1 M M M •* M « S ' ? : 3 ; 3 \ 2 ^ • 3 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 187 8 8 8 8 2^ 8 8 8 K2 t? 8 8:?888S>888888888^89>889> 855>8S>^^rr88g,885.8?J:588<8 0000 o o 000000 o o o o o o o o o w o" « « « N ti «' fi fi « N cfk fl « o' « 6\ « ci « ^ S <2 a M fi 2 8 fi 5 if & P o z 2 ^ a a a i (-1 Pi W 04 §1S o > ^ a ^1 5-2 JS 5SS pa o M o & 8 8 8^8 ?; 8 8 8 8 R 8 8 8 lSiS&a5«?ill ^g^85>885J2R,;r88 Ov o o o o o o o o o o 6 ft «' O O «' CN "-I* ri o « o o < o o 3 S n £ o{ II « BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 189 Farm Prices in Two Centuries. From report of the statistidAn of U. S. Department of Agriculture. September, 1893. Casual extracts from desultory memoranda are of some interest and value, while far less important than continuous records upon one uniform basis. Deductions cannot be safely drawn from discon- nected data, necessarily without natural sequence, and for that reason of little use for purposes of com- parison. Continuous records are therefore valuable, their utility depending on the length of the period which they cover. Few farmers make systematic registry of prices or results, even for short periods, so that a careful and persistent record for a long series of years is very rare and exceedingly interest- ing and important as material for histor3^ We have been fortunate in obtaining such a record, which runs through the farm experience of two genera- tions, in the very heart of the original settlements of the Atlantic slope in Connecticut and in Pennsyl- vania. It is comprised in three original books, in- cluding 348 pages of accounts of products sold, of wages of labor and charges for board. This transcript is furnished by Mr. H. P. Plumb, of Peely, Hanover township, Luzerne county, who owns and occupies the farm on which his grand- father, Elisha Blackman, resided from 1791 till his death in 1845, near Wilkesbarre, Pa., on the north branch of the Susquehanna. The records were made by Mr. Blackman from 1805 to 1842, inclusive, and from 1770 to 1804 by his father, also named igo FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Elisha, first in Lebanon (New London county), Conn., and from 1772 to 1778 on his farm near Wilkesbarre, in the ^HI!onnecticut Susquehanna Purchase,^^ to which the Blackmans had immi- grated. On the 3pd of July, 1778, occured that most cruel Indian butchery, the massacre of Wyoming, in which young Blackman, then eighteen years of age, fought and slew an Indian antagonist, and succeeded in escaping from the valley, with father and mother, two younger brothers and two sisters. The father returned to C!onnecticut, and the en- tries here produced were afterwards made in that state till 1787, when his occupancy of the farm near Wilkesbarre was again resumcJd, where he con- tinued to reside until his death in 1804. The later data are recorded by the son during the thirty-eight following years. A period of seventy-three consecu- tive years is thus covered. The younger Elisha did not return to C!onnecti- cut, but retreated to Stroudsburg, on the Delaware river, only to return in August, and in October fol- lowing, as soon as it was practicable to reconnoiter six miles from the fort at Wilkesbarre, helped to bury the dead of the Wyoming battlefield, partici- pated in skirmishing and fighting and in gathering such crops as had not been whollj*^ destroyed by the Indians, and afterwards entered the military ser- vice, first as a volunteer and subsequently as an en- listed soldier, serving in Col. Sherman's regiment on the Hudson. In 1786 he returned with his brothers to the Wyoming valley and built a log cabin on the abandoned farm, where he was rejoined by his father the following year. In 1788 he married Anne Hurl- but, and in 1791 moved to Hanover township and built a log cabin and established a new farm, on which he lived to the time of his death. Mr. Plumb is the son of the daughter of the younger Blackman. So much of history and biography is necessary to show the localities and conditions and the personnel of these records. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. I9I The accounts were kept in Connecticut currency, six shillings to the dollar, until the end of the rev- olutionary period, and from 1787 in Pennsylvania currency, seven shillings six pence to the dollar. In the earlier period there was no dollar, no United States money, though there were Mexican or Span- ish dollars. The values are all given in pounds, shillings and pence until after 1814, when dollars and cents are used. For the convenience of the reader, the local currency is in every item rendered into national currency on the basis of six shillings to the dollar for Connecticut money and seven shil- lings six pence for Pennsylvania currency. Very little money was in circulation during the earlier period; domestic commerce was largely barter, values being based on the currency standards in use and expressed in the denominations of the cur- rency in vogue. To prevent unnecessary duplication, only one item of a kind in any one year has been transcribed, unless there was something in season or circum- stances or quality of product to render it necessary. In the wages of labor, so constantly differentiated by degrees of skill and intrinsic value of service, it was necessary to show the kind or quality. An analysis of these statements of prices shows that the retail valuation of maize in the colonial per- iod was less variable than at present, and averaged about 50 cents per bushel, or two-thirds the prevail- ing rates of recent years. During the period of the war with England, near the beginning of this cen- tury, prices were advanced to about 75 cents per bushel. Between 1820 and 1830 the value had fallen to 50 cents. In 1836 it was high again. On the contrary, wheat shows a very wide range of fluctuation. The lowest values are 60 to 67 cents per bushel in the decade before the organization of the National government. In the years following, the price went to fl.l7. Later it is charged at 87 cents to ?1 per bushel. It went up to f 1.50 in 1814, 192 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT and in 1817 was sold at |2, in the season following the almost universal crop failures of 1816, noted for its frosts in every summer month. Other grain was cheap. Buckwheat was sold at' from 26 to 40 cents per bushel; oats at 24 or 25 cents ordinarily, in exceptional years going to 40 cents. Rye was nearly as valuable as wheat, except in years of marked scarcity of the better grain. Potatoes were as variable in price as at present, with a lower average. In good years the retail value was usually as low as 33 cents and the next year might be 50, according to abundance. In the begin- ning of the century the usual rates were about the same as in the colonial period. Peas and beans rarely brought more than |1.25 to $1.50, half to two-thirds the usual retail prices of the present time and frequently sold at |1 per bushel. Beef was low, from 3 to 5 cents ordinarily, or from 5 to 7 for the more valuable pieces with some variation at different dates for the same qualities. Mutton is charged at 51-2 cents. Pork appears to have been higher than beef, fresh pork being charged at 5 to 7 cents, while salt pork as occasionally sold in small quantities from the surplus of the farm sup- ply, is comparatively uniform at 10 to 13 1-3 cents, equivalent to a Pennsylvania shilling. In one in- stance a pig of sixty pounds is charged at the rate of 41-6 cents; in another, one of sixty-three pounds, at 3 1-3 cents; presumably these were live weights. A "gammon of ham" is noted in 1794 at 6 2-3 cents. The price of lard varied from 8 to 13 cents at differ- ent dates. Veal is rated at from about 4 to 61-2^ cents. Shad were cheap, usually 4 pence; in one case a charge of $4.44 is made for 100 shad; in another, the cost of 131 was $5.82, the same rate. Game was abundant in those days and there- fore cheap. Repeated sales of venison are noted, at the uniform rate of 3 1-3 cents or 3 pence per pound: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 1 93 Bear meat was slightly higher, usually charged at 4 pence. Pigeons were in extraordinary abundance, especially about the close of the eighteenth century, judging from frequency of mention, as well as from the price named, which was uniform at a shilling per dozen, 13 1-3 cents, a little more than a cent apiece. In the early part of the present century the maxi- mum was 25 cents. Elderly readers will remember the flights of flocks of pigeons which darkened the skies during the first third of the present century, of which any recent experience fails to give any ade- quate conception. There are several items relating to tanned skins, necessarily coincident with a plethoric supply of game. The value of deer skins is placed at f 1.17 each and the charge is $1 to f 2 for a bear skin. A dog skin is rated at 40 cents; a sheep skin, 60 cents. Milk was charged at about 2 cents per quart for small quantities; there was evidently a very limited and casual neighborhood demand, such as in recent days commands 4 cents in the country and 6, 8 or 10 in the cities for milk delivered, which farmers are furnishing at 3 cents, and even lower, on contract, to middlemen. The price of cheese is stated at 7 to 8 cents, in the war period going up to 12, and of butter at 1 shilling, or 13 1-3 cents, and from that price to 17 cents in certain seasons, though in 1816, the year of great agricultural scarcity, the price ran up to 25 cents. Apples were ordinarily sold, in abundant sea- sons, for 12 1-2 cents per bushel, at 25 cents in less productive years and 37 in seasons of greater scar- city, at 50 cents in 1823, and once, in 1836, the charge is |1, and in 1841, 74 cents. Cider was sold by the gallon at 15 to 20 cents and by the barrel from $1 to |3, according to the supply. The value of hay is sometimes made as low as |5 per ton, ranging, according to the supply, from f4 to|8. 194 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Wages are registered by single day's work, as a rule. In some cases monthly wages are indicated. In comparison with present rates, which are near to |1 for transient labor, and |1.75 or |2 in harvest, the rates for varied service were only about a third as much. Ordinary unskilled labor was remunerated at the rate of 33 cents per day, that requiring a de- gree of skill 42 cents, and harvest work 50 cents — in a few cases a little more. The differentiation in 1771 was: work on highway, 33 cents; breaking flax, 33; mowing, 50. Such differences were quite uni- form till the close of the eighteenth century. Then mowing or reaping was frequently charged at 67 cents, and in 1811 there is a charge at that rate for mowing, and at the same time one of |1 for crad- ling. Wages in the period of the war with Great Britain were higher than at earlier or later dates. Threshing, breaking flax, killing hogs, mending fence, cutting wood, usually demanded only a med- ium rate of wages, while mowing, reaping, cradling, or stonework, called for higher pay. Wages by the month are named in several cases, generally those in which one of the sons is hired to a neighbor. In 1779 a charge of |30 is made for the wages of Ichabod, a youth of 17, for six months; and in 1781 the services of Eleazer, a son 16 years old, for a like period, were valued at |25. Prom |4 to $5 per month represent the usual compensation of well- grown lads not arrived at raan^s estate. In 1780 the remuneration for such "chores" as "cutting wood at the door one year and foddering'' was the moderate sum of |5. In connection with wages, the remuneration of labor as piecework, in spinning, weaving, shoemak- ing, and other forms of manufacture, naturally comes in. The charge of making shoes was evidently by the kind or quality. More frequently the sum re- corded was 60 cents for making a pair. Woman's shoes were sometimes 50 cents, sometimes 60. Mak- ing boots varied from $1.60 to |1.87, and once in 1817 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. I95 it was charged |3. Soling boots, 40 cents; soling moccasins, 13 cents. Making a pair of moccasins cost 27 cents, or 2 shillings. Finding uppers, in ad- dition to making shoes, was charged at |1.20; and finding soles, witH the making of woman's shoes, 11.10. In 1809 occurs an item of f 1.50 for a pair of woman's shoes, and another of |5.50 for a pair of boots. Footing a pair of socks in 1776 was charged 50 cents, and again in 1825 it was only 25 cents; in 1803 sale of three pairs was made at |2. Shirts were not in those days stitched with sew- ing machines; in 1776 the charge for making a pair of shirts was 67 cents, and later a shirt ready made cost 11.67. In 1796 the weaving of 9 yards of cloth cost 8 i)ence per yard, or 80 cents, and of 28 yards, at 10 i)ence, ^.11; but in 1799, for weaving 8 yards of cloth, doubtless of different texture, the charge was only 53 cents. In 1810, weaving of 14 yards of cloth was booked at |1.61. Spinning three run and five knots is put at 45 cents. Sales of cloth are re- ported in 1800: 5 1-4 yards at |2.33, about 44 cents per yard; 3 1-2 at |1.87, or 53 cents. In 1776 seven yards of checked linen were sold at 50 cents per yard, and 5 yards of tow cloth at the same price. Several charges of tailoring are made, generally by the local tailor, Askam. When the day's works are specified the rate is equivalent to about 80 cents per day. The use of a pair of oxen per day was usually 25 cents. In one instance, plowing two acres was booked at 50 cents, and in another two men and two horses to plow an acre were furnished for |1. Plow- ing, harrowing, and sowing two acres of fiax, in 1775, cost |3. Board was cheap in those early days at $1 per week. Children were boarded at a somewhat lower charge. Susannah was boarded thirteen weeks for 16.50. There is a charge of one meal of victuals at 11 cents. 196 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Pasturing of cows or other cattle is generally recorded at 25 cents per week. In 1820 a charge of 15 cents is made for pasturing a cow one week. Items of pasturing horses are given at the rate of 25 cents per week. In 1784 a charge of |3.33 is made for *Tieeping one of your cattle, winter of 1783." A few items only indicate the value of farm an- imals. In 1771 an ox was booked at $17.50. In 1772 a calf is valued at |2. A cow and calf in 1824 brought |15. Later, in 1860, a pair of oxen sold for |60. The use of a cow one year, in 1794, was rated at f3. A sheep in 1780, in Connecticut, was valued at |1.50. An examination of these prices suggests the great advance in the rate of wages of labor and the still greater reduction in the cost of manufac- tures of all kinds. It was the day of fabrication by "main strength and awkwardness,'* by crude manual labor unaided by machinery except of the roughest and simplest style. * It was the day of individual and isolated effort, antedating the era of aggregation in factories, classification and division of labor, and in- vention of labor-saving processes and ajppliances. The price of farm products was usually low, but fluctuating greatly according to local scarcity, which could not be mitigated by distribution from regions of plenty. If there were big crops they could not be sold; if relative failures, there was almost nothing to sell. Every locality, in its industries and pro- ducts, existed for and by itself, having no relations with other communities; therefore, the individual farm surplus was small, the inducement to produce wanting, and the ability to purchase other than farm supplies extremely limited. The industrious family had abundance of everything it could grow, such clothing as the loom of the household could produce, and such furniture as could be made on the place or in the neighborhood, and little else. And yet the man of industry and enterprise always laid aside some savings of the year, and grew relatively rich BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS I97 with what in the present day, with new wants and enlarged aspirations, would not suffice to make a moderate competency. A careful study of this state- ment of prices will shed a flood of light on the farm economy of the last century and illustrate the won- derful progress that has followed in the style of liv- ing of the farmer, and in the facility of production and distribution of his crops. Extract from account of Elisha Blackman, in Lebanon, New London county. Conn., and in Wilkes- barre, Luzerne county. Pa., from 1770 to 1804, in- clusive. 198 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES. Connecticut cnrrency, 6 thiUingt to the dcdlar. 1770 1771 u\ pounds cheese Two da3rs' use of yoke of oxen 5^ quinUl of fish One grindstone Two bushels of peas One dozen cakes castilr soap Five hundred pounds hay One dozen candles Pasturing mare six weeks Yokeof oxen, two days One day's wOTk, self One pound tobacco One gallon rum Going to Halifax, four days One and one-half day's work digging cdlar Eighteen quarts milk Thirty pounds fish One day's work on highway One day's work at wall Six pounds fish * Six geese, one gosling Bight and one-half bushels oats One day, mowing Seventy weight of beef Two bushels peas An ox Seven quarts milk One-half a cowhide Three days chopping wood Three bushels ashes jCB.d. 4 " 3 4 6 I 3 14 7 3 5 I 9 3 a 6 8 4 12 4 6 3 6 a 3 I 6 13 7 I 3 II 8 14 550 I 6 7 6 ,. 50 75 367 333 I ai 83 17 1 50 50 42 II 67 3 00 75 50 1 00 33 50 25 2 17 I 18 50 I 94 233 1750 17 I 00 I 35 4a BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 199 FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Continued. Connectictit cttrrency, 6 sbilliogs to the dollar. Yew ITBM CHARGED. Karly SUte cur- reucy. United States cur- rency. 1771 177a 1773 A mare to ride to Mansfield One-half bushel flaxseed One grindstone One day breaking flax One calf Two days digging stone Nine and one-half days' work of oxen Two men and two horses to plow an acre. One day's work Plowing two acres Three days carrying a chain Three loads hay Two and one-half yards tow cloth One ox yoke , One-halfday picking corn One-half bushel flaxseed One bushel com Boarding two weeks One-half bushel seed com Seven dajrs. self and man, moving One bushel oals Two bushels com Ferry over and back Ferry to fetch bushel of corn 2 loads of wood % bushel of flaxseed i}4 yards tow doth 1 pig (weighed 2a pounds) % bushel seed com 2 loads of wood ^» d. 3 o 3 o 10 o 2 o 12 O 6 o 14 6 6 o 3 o 3 o 9 o I ID O 5 o 7 o 1 o 2 6 3 6 12 o 3 o I 8 o I 6 6 o 1 o o 8 14 o 2 6 5 o 8 6 a o 14 o Dollars. 50 50 167 33 2 00 1 00 2 42 I 00 50 50 1 50 5 00 83 1 17 17 42 58 2 00 33 467 25 1 00 17 II 2 33 42 83 I 42 33 233 200 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— C^ontinued. Connecticut currency, 6 shiUingi to the dollar. Year. ITBM CHARGED. Barly State cur- rency. United States cur- rency. 1773 1774 1775 2loadsof wood 3^ of a town lot (Wilketbarre). 12 pounds tobacco yi pound hatoheledflax 20 pumpkins I bushel com Sji pounds mutton % bushel wheat I day killing hogs I bushel flaxseed , I hog« weight 182 pounds 1 bufthel oats 16 pounds pork 4 pounds flax I day's work 1 bridle 45 feet of boards 1 day hoeing com yi day plowing between com. z day, the boys (14, 12 and 10). 1 day reaping 3 boys a day stripping tobacco. 2 weeks' boarding 1 day, yoke of oxen 2 pounds pork 3J4 pounds flax 25 bundles of oats : 6 quarts salt 2 days' reaping Plowing 2aoresland /•». d. 100 2 14 o 6 o I o 1 3 3 o 2 9 3 o 2 6 8 o 2 13 I 2 o 11 o 3 o 2 6 3 o 1 6 2 6 2 6 2 6 3 o 3 o 12 o I 6 I o a 4 6 o 3 o 7 o 12 o Dollars. 333 9 00 I 00 17 91 50 46 50 4» 1 33 885 33 183 50 4a 50 as 43 4» 4» 50 50 2 CO 25 17 39 I 00 50 1 17 2 00 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 20I FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Continued. Connecticut currency, 6 ihllUngB to the dollar. Year. ITBM CHARGBD. Barly SUte cur- rency. United States cur- rency. "^ 6 d. 6 Dollars. X o8 I lO 5 00 X7 X7 o X7 6 25 o 67 17 6 25 17 8 XI i8 300 X 9 29 2 o 33 I O 9 346 5 83 I 6 25 3 50 6 08 7 I 17 z 17 9 X 50 3 o 50 I 6* 25 3 50 4 67 6 I 00 I I 3 50 9 o X 50 4 6 75 X775 X776 39 quarts milk 10 bushels 00m yi bushel potatoes xJ4 pounds butter 2 pounds tobacco X bushel oats X day, self and oxen I day, my mare I day, 3roke of oxen I peck of beans... I meal of rictuals Plowing, harrowing and sowing 2 acres flax land. S% pounds tobacco 5i bushel beans Quarter of beef, 83 pounds, at 3d I week's board 1 bushel oats ^ Tapping a pair of shoes X loaf of bread X shirt J^ day, Blisha (son, x6 years old) 6 days, Ichabod(son, 13 years old) 2 days of oxen X day, Eleazer (son, 11 years old) Footing pair of socks Making two shirts % bushel of salt 7 yards check linen 3 days scoring timber 1% bushels corn 202 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Continued. Connecticut currency, 6 tbillinga to the dollar. Tear. ITBM CHARGED. Kariy State cur- rency. United States cur- rency. 1 d. 4 Dollars. 33 15 350 3 3 38 4 67 13 6 335 3 50 6 X 00 12 3 00 3 33 6 I 00 I 10 31 1 13 6 558 4 67 3 6 4» I 17 6 635 6 I 00 19 3 17 9 I 50 12 3 00 2 6 4a 13 4 3 33 4 6 75 9 1 50 6 I 00 I 6 358 3 50 1 6 25 6 1 00 12 3 00 5 83 1776 1777 1778 1779 3 pounds cheese 5 jrards tow cloth t 55i pounds pork I bushel rye 4H bushels poUtoes Carting two loads wood and two load^ knots. 4 bushels hay seed Plowing 3 acres of land 1 day of oxen iday hauling logs I bushel oats 23 pounds flax I load wood I day, plowing com 5 weeks' board 3 days of oxen I bridle 1 load of wood 2 loads of wood _ % pound tea 30 pounds pork, at &f. a pound iji bushels rye 3 shocks of oats. I load of wood 7.% bushels of flaxseed 1 bushel potatoes n quarts com 2 days, my oxen x^i^ days, Ichat>od and oxen 2 da3rs, hoeing com BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 203 FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Continued. Conneciicut currency, 6 shilling^ to the dollar. Year. ITEM CHARGED. Early SUte cur- rency. United Stotes cur- rency. 1779 1780 1781 % day killing hoga 12 pounds veal (1 quarter) 6 days, getting bark 1 hog, 60 pounds, at 3^ acres plowing 5^ a run of yam spinning Making pair shoes, shoemaker finds the uppers. ^s.d. 5 o 3 o 4 1 3 o 4 o 7 6 2 3 1 o 18 o 2 o 2 O 4 6 6 o 6 o 2 o 1 3 8 o 2 o I o I o 5 o 6 o 4 o 5 3 I 2 6 7 6 II 3 6 9 o Dollars. 67 40 54 40 53 X 00 30 13 2 40 27 27 60 80 80 27 17 1 07 27 13 13 67 80 52 70 300 I 00 1 50 7 I 20 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 2X1 FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Continued. PennsylTaniA cnrrency, 7 ihilHngs 6 pence to the dotlar. Year. ITBM CHARGED. Early United SUte States carw cur- rency. X796 X797 Making pair woman's shoes, shoemaker to find the^ sole leather Making pair shoes I cord of bark (for tanner) 1 dozen pigeons 1 deerskin 1 hay rake 6 fresh shad Tanning 2 sheepskins Weaving 9 3rards doth at &/ Weaving 28 yards cloth at lorf Tanning i bearskin Yoke of oxen i day 4% pounds pork iH pounds butter I pound tallow 454 pounds beef abushelsoats 4 pounds flax Tanning a dogskin X bushel of com a days pulling turnips 1 quart of honey Making a pair of shoes I doxen pigeons 8 pounds bear's mea a id 3 bearskins 13 pounds venison at 3^. I bushel salt 50 fresh shad at 4^ iH buahelsofrye ;er».^ jrards tow cloth 2 pounds bread 100 pounds hay Weaving Syards cloth 2% pounds pork (salt) H day cradling 8 pounds venison, at ^ Spinning 3 run and 5 knots I shirt 1 earthen porringer 3 nights* lodging On the jury case of Lot and Son. To a horse to go to 4th of July . . SK yardsof cloth 6 poimdssalt pork 1^ pounds tobacco 3 bushels buckwheat 2 quarts salt 2% pounds cheese A yoke of oxen one day 3 pounds butter. ^•. d. 3 o 1 o z o 7 6 3 9 7 6 8 o 6 o 2 6 12 5 1 • 3 o 4 o 2 6 3 9 2 o 3 3 12 6 6 1 o 2 o z 8 17 6 3 o z 6 o 2 o z 8 3 o 3 9 Dollars. 40 13 '3 z 00 50 Z 00 z 07 80 33 t 66 13 40 53 33 50 27 43 Z67 7 13 27 92 233 40 23 80 27 22 40 50 214 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— CJontinnecL Pennsylvania currency, 7 sbfllings 6 pence to the dollar. Year. ITEM CHARGED. Early State cur- rency. United States cur- rency. £ ». d., 6 Dollars. 7 3 rj 7 6 I 00 4 3 57 a 6 33 7 6 I 00 4 53 1 13 4 444 3 9 50 1 4 330 I 13 6 3 83 2 3 30 8 I 07 4 53 5 1\ 75 4 6 60 10 1 33 I 6 30 I 10 24 10 1 33 6 80 I 13 3 40 3 9 50 6 80 13 9 183 3 40 3 10 667 4 3 57 1800 I80I I80I 1 quart soap (soft) 3 bushels ashes 1% bushels rye i3ji pounds beef. 3 pounds flax 300 pounds hay % bushel beans 100 fresh shad I days' work Weaving 38}^ jrards doth I dozen pigeons 35 pounds venison, at 2A i% bushels turnips, at 11. 6ounds, 14 ounces butter, at 25 cents 6 pounds 4 ounces honey, at 14 cents 2 quarts beans /-•. d. Dollars. 5 94 85 80 80 75 2 25 50 X 00 63 36 260 40 50 X 50 23 8 X2 X3 00 185 80 75 50 75 46 06 X 22 87 X2 224 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Continued. PennsyhraniA currency, 7 thUlings 6 peace to the dollar. Tear. ITEM CHARGBD. Bariy SUte cur- rency. United SUtes cur^ rency. 1816 1817 1818 I hive of beet Making one plow X paU X day thrashing rye Making a pair of overalls 3X pounds venison, at 5 cents I bushel of wheat 4 bushel of rye, at $1.25 X bushel of buckwheat 6 pounds rye flour, at 4 cents X sheepskin 3 pounds 8 ounces honey, at 13 cents . X bushel potatoes 500 of hay*. Making a pair of boots Making a pair of shoes Footing boots 4 pounds 12 ounces beef, at 8 cents ... 2% day's work by a tailor, mending.. X hive of bees 14 pounds, 8 ounces veal, at 8 cents .. X day butchering 1 day mowing 2 bushels of potatoes, at 62}^ cents iH bushels rye, at 100 cents 4 bushels buckwheat, at 60 cents x8 pounds rye flour, at 4^ cents X nutmeg X2 pounds veal at 8 cents I hive of bees ^s.d. DolUrs. 450 2 00 50 50 X 00 155 2 00 500 50 24 50 33 50 2 00 300 60 X 60 35 2 00 450 X x6 75 X 00 X 25 1 50 2 40 8x 96 400 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 225 FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Continued. Pennsylvania corrency, 7 ihillings 6 pence to the dollar. Year. ITBM CHARGED. Barly State cur- rency. United States cur- rency. x8i8 1819 1820 X day chopping 15 pounds 10 ounces of honey at ao centa . % ton of plaster at $17.00 I day, yoke of oxen Making a pair of boota Making a pair of shoes 1 dozen tacks 2 bushels buckwheat at 50 centa 2 bushels salt, at $1.75 X bushel com.. .,...i 1 bushel potatoes 10 days* tailoring (Askam) X day picking stones IX pounds 8 ounces honey 9 shad, at 18 centa atonsofhay )i ton of plaster at $17.00 8 ponnds 4 ounces salt pork, at 14 centa ... 4 bushels rye 14 pounds 8 ounces veal at 6 centa 2 days* mowing x8 pounds rye flour at 4H centa Sold oxen to Bdward Inman for I bushel potatoes , X bushel and I peck of rye adays' mowing Splitting 80 rails 5poundsveal, at 6centa X2^ bushels apples, at 12% centa 7 days* haying, at 50 centa , /•». d. Dollars. 50 3 " 850 50 300 75 6H I 00 350 75 50 8 00 50 I 50 36 xo 00 850 I 15 3 00 86 I 50 8x 60 00 40 6a I 00 50 30 156 350 226 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Continued. PennsylvanU currency, 7 thillinKS 6 pence to the dollar. Year. ITEM CHARGED. Ewiy 8Ute cur- rency. United States cur- rency. l890 182Z xSaa X weeks* t>oard Cow pastured at 15 cents per week 1 doxen tacks S3 pounds rye flour at 3 cents 14 pounds honey at laH cents I barrel of dder 3bushdsof com 3 bushels of apples at 25 cents I pound and 8 ounces butter at 10 cents 3 bushels rye at 40 cents X bushel potatoes I barrel cider 104 pounds beef at 3 cents 30 pounds honey at 10 cents 3 pounds 8 ounces tallow at 15 cents Tailor making linen coat 14 pounds fresh pork at 5 cents 3Z pounds freeh beef at 5 cents 10 pounds 13 ounces veal at 5 cents I bushel potatoes One-half bushel onions I load of coal xH bushels of rye at 91 cents 5 pounds 13 ounces aalt pork at 8 cents I day mowing X grate for burning coal, 44 pounds at 6 cents 3quartsofsaltat6 cents 6 bushels apples at 35 cents I day chopping I bushel clover seed ^8. d. Dollars 15 I 06 1 75 2 00 1 50 75 15 80* 3 00 3 la 3 00 38 3 50 70 I 55 54 50 30 150 I 37 46 50 264 X3 X 50 40 7 00 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 227 FARM PRICES IN TWO OENTURIES--Ck)ntinued. PenntylTftniA cnrrency, 7 thilUngs 6 pence to the dollar. YtBX. ITBM CHARGED. Early State cur- rency. United States cnr- rency. xSaa 1833 1824 13^ pounds of iron at 6 cents Making a linen coat 1 saddle 13 pounds Teal at 5 cents ao bundles of straw 300 weight of hay OneJialf bushel of beans One-half ton of hay 3 pounds 8 ounces honey 3 pounds 6 ounces cheese Pasturing a cow 3 weeks I bushel buckwheat X pound 4 ounces butter 135^ cents I H gallons metheglin at 30 cents ...... 4 bushels potatoes at 40 cents 3 bushels rye at 75 cents ID bundles of straw 5 pounds 13 ounces salt beef at 6 cents . I day chopping wood One-half pound lard Knitting one sock One-half bushel onions X peck of beans Weaving 33 yards at 1354 cents 6 pounds 14 ounces salt pork at 10 cents One-half bushel of apples xbushelofrye One-half bushel white beans X pound of beeswax X pound hi cents 40 cabbage heads Shearing 4 sheep 7 pounds 14 ounces fresh pork at 5 cents. 3 bushels of beans IS pounds of veal at 4 cents 3 pounds 14 ounces honey at 10 cents /••.d. Dollan. 50 60 as 62 25 50 I 00 51 20 3 75 350 x6 50 I 00 X 25 80 80 88 38 50 I 00 I 25 300 12 38 300 60 38 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 231 FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Contiiuied. Pennsylvania currency, 7 shillings 6 pence to the dollar. Year. 1930 1831 183a ITEM CHARGBD. Karly State cur- rency. IX pounds 10 ounces wheat flow 5 bushels rye at 50 cents 17 pounds 8 onnces salt pork at 10 cents 2 days mowing at 60 cents 1 day kflling hogs 1 barrel cider 3 pounds butter at 14 cents , 2 pounds lard at 10 cents 4 pounds 14 ounces honey at 10 cents 7 pounds fresh pork at 5 cents Shearing 4 sheep at 3 cents 31 pounds Teal hindquaiter at 5 cents 15 bundles of straw at scents 5 bushels of potatoes at 40 cents I day threshing 18 pounds 14 ounces fresh beef at4 cents 1 bushel I peck of wheat at $1... 12 pounds 4 ounces salt pork at 10 cents 21 pounds honey at locents ,. 2 bushels of com 1 day mowing 17 pounds fresh beef at 5 cents 3 bushels of wheat 3 pounds 6 ounces Teal at 6 cents 12 ounces of beeswax 2 bushels of beans 3 pounds 12 ounces of salt pork at 10 cents 2 bushels of buckwheat at 37ji cents 6 pounds 12 ounces honey in the comb at 10 cents 2 bushels of com atsocents /r». d. United States cur- rency. Dollars. 250 X 75 I 25 • 50 I 00 28 20 48 35 12 1 05 30 2 00 50 75 I 25 1 22 2 10 I CX) 60 20 16 2 00 38 75 66 I 00 232 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Continued. Pennsylvaaia currency, 7 shillings 6 pence to the dollar. Year. ITBM CHARGED. Early SUte cur- rency. UnHed SUtes cur- rency. 1833 1833 1834 X galkm of cider , X pound 10 ounces dried beef at 8 cents 10 meals yictnals Hauling X load of coal X fimning mill 10 bushds of potatoes at 31 ;< cents 1 ton of coal la pounds venison at 5 cents 2 pounds 14 ounces salt pork at xo cents 12 pounds 10 ounces fresh pork at 6 cents 12 pounds 12 ounces strained honey at 10 cents. 4 pounds beeswax X day killing hogs 10 bushels of rye at 65 cents , 5 bushels of potatoes at 31 cents 4 bushels of rye at 65 cents 154 bushels of potatoes X ton of coal I bushel of apples , I fowl 8 pounds 6 ounces salt pork at xo cents 100 pounds of hay 1 pound 8 ounces ol butter 4 pounds of cheese at 6}^ cents 3 days* mowing at 62 cents 13 pounds honey at 10 cents 13 pounds 4 ounces of veal at 4 cents ^ day cradling at 100 cents 12 pounds 12 ounces fresh beefat 4 cents 2 dozen pigeons jCs.d, DoUars. 20 13 75 25 22 00 3 X2 X 00 60 26 76 1 27 80 50 6 50 X55 260 46 X 00 84 65 18 25 X 88 I 30 53 75 51 50 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 333 FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Continaed. Pennsylvania currency, 7 shillingt 6 pence to the dollar. Year. ITBM CHARGED. Early SUte cur- rency. United SUtes cur- rency. 1835 X836 1837 syi bushels of buckwheat, at 40 cts 1 ton of coal 3^ bushel of potatoes 1 bushel of turnips , 3 pounds butter at 15 cts 9 pounds wheat flour at 3 cts , 13 pounds 4 ounces honey at 10 cts ai pounds 8 ounces beef at 4 cts 3 dajrs* haying Cow pasture, 5 weeks, at 25 cts yi bushel potatoes at so cts }i bushel turnips 2 bushels of rye at 75 cts X bushel of com % bushel of apples 4 pounds of butter at 15 cts 6 pounds of lard at 123^ cts 3 pounds of honey at 10 cts adoxen eggs at 12$^ cts 3 pints of vinegar 9 pounds 8 ounces pork at 8 cts 3 pounds 4 ounces salt pork at 1234 cts 12 pounds fresh pork at 8 cts 2quartsofbean8at6cts Horse and sleigh to go to town 1 pound of butter 10 pounds 14 ounces fresh beef at 5 cts. 6 pounds 6 ounces salt pork at i2>^ cts 9 pounds 12 ounces cheese a pounds honey jC ^d. Dollars, a 20 X 00 25 25 30 27 I 33 86 I 50 3 75 25 13 I 50 80 50 60 75 30 25 9 78 40 96 12 50 18 54 80 82 25 234 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES- Contimied. PennsylvanU cnrrency, 7 shillings 6 pence to the dollar. Year. ITEM CHARGED. Early SUte cur- rency. United States cur- rency. 1837 1838 »839 1840 1841 Oxen to plow, i day 9 weeks' cow pastured at 25 cts 5i bushel turnips i}4 doseneggs X tmshel of apples % ton of coal at 100 cts I bushel of potatoes I bushel of turnips 10 pounds 14 ounces veal at 6 cts 3 bushels of rye to pay 3 days' mowing. a pounds honey Pasturing a cow 5 weeksat 35 cts a pounds sugar 9 pounds 13 ounces gammon at la)^ cts . Horse and wagon to go to town I day oxen and cart to haul wood Making pair shoes, find the uppers I bushel of potatoes 3 pounds butter at 30 cts 13 pounds 8 ounces veal at 6 cts 3 days' work mowing at 75 cts I washboard Horse and wagon to go to town I day oxen and cart I bushel turnips 130 pounds beef a€ 7 cts 11 pounds 13 ounces veal at 5 cts Making a coat (Askam, tailor) a pounds 14 ounces beeswax M bushel of salt .^s. d. Dollars. y> a 35 xa x8 37% 50 50 «5 65 25 1 25 30 X 33 50 50 X ao 50 40 75 2 25 37 50 37 «5 9 xo 52 300 73 50 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 235 FARM PRICES IN TWO CENTURIES— Concluded. PennsylTania currency, 7 shUlings 6 pence to the dollar. Year. ITBM CHARGBD. Early State cur- rency. United States cur- rency. 1833 184a 51 pounds pork at 5 cts % bnstael of potatoes S pounds of tallow at 13 cts 27 pounds fresh beef at 6 cts 3 pounds of honey 2 dozen eggs at 125^ cts ^gallon of molasses J^ bushel of apples 2 bushels wheat bran at 25 cts 5 quarts little onions at 6yi cents... ^ pound butter at x6 cents aquarts beans 4% bushels of turnips at 25 cents... 4 weeks' and 6 days* board at $2 25. 4 pounds of honey at 12% cents I peck of beans I pound 4 ounces tallow H bushel turnips 30 cabbage heads I barrel wheat flour /••. d. Dollars. 355 "9 6S X 62 20 25 25 37 50 31 8 18 X X2 992 50 37H 17 12 90 700 236 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT AVERAGE WAGES OF UNITED KINGDOM. According to Mr. Giffen, the average wages of various parts of the United Kingdom were as follows for the years 1830 and 1880: COUNTRIES AND DISTRICTS 1830 1880 Sarrey SOMCZ Kent Hftitford Northampton Bedford Bssez •. Suffolk Norfolk WelU _ Dorset Devon Sommetvet Gloucester Hereford Salop Stafford Warwick Lincoln Nottingham Derby Cheshire York Average increase for United Kingdom, 50 per ct. Durham Northumberland Westmoreland Cumberland Monmouth Increase, 39 per cent. $2 55 2 37 292 2 25 2 25 2 25 252 2 52 252 I 95 I 82 1 95 2 II 2 19 195 2 19 2 92 243 292 2 92 2 92 3 16 2 92 2 92 2 92 2 92 2 92 2 56 ♦390 340 • 390 2 16 316 3X6 328 328 328 2 92 303 328 316 3eriod to give thirty days' notice of quitting and forbidding their unions from ordering or advising otherwise. Many assert with force that no law can be justly devised to compel employers and employes to accept the decisions of tribunals in wage disputes. It is insisted that while the employer can readily be made to pay under an arbitration decision more than is or than he thinks is right, the employe can not prac- tically be made to work. He can quit, or at least force his discharge, when the decision gives him less than he demands. Hence nothing reciprocal can be devised, and without that element it is urged that nothing just can be enacted of a compulsory na- ture. This may be true in general industries, but it has less weight as between railroads and their labor. Railroads have not the inherent rights of employ- ers engaged in private business; they are creatures of the state, whose rights are conferred upon them for public purposes, and, hence, the right and duty of government to compel them to do in every respect what public interest demands are clear and free from embarrassment. It is certainly for the public inter- est that railroads shall not abandon transportation because of labor disputes, and, therefore, it is the duty of the government to have them accept the de- cision of its tribunals, even though complete recipro- cal obligations can not be imposed upon labor. The absence of such reciprocal obligations would rarely affect railroads unjustly, if we regard the question in a practical light Railroad employment is attractive and is sought for. There has never been a time in the history of railroads when men did not stand ready to fill a la- bor vacancy at the wages fixed by the roads. The number is constantly increasing. If railroads can thus always get the men that they need at what they offer, is there any doubt that the supply will be ample at any rates fixed by a commission and the courts? A provision as to notice of quitting, after BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 259 a decision, would be ample to enable railroads to fill vacancies caused in their labor departments by dis- satisfaction with decisions. To go further, under present conditions, at least, in coercing employes to obey tribunals in selling their labor would be a dan- gerous encroachment upon the inherent, inalienable right to work or quit, as they please. When railroad employes secure greater certainty of their positions and of the right to promotion, com- pensation for injury, etc., it will be time enough to consider such strict regulation for them as we can now justly apply to railroads, whose rights are pro- tected by laws and guarded by all the advantages of greater resources and more concentrated control. In solving these questions, corporations seldom aid the efforts of the people or their legislators. Fear of change and the threatened loss of some power in- variably make them obstructionists. They do not desire to be dealt with by any legislation; they sim- ply want to be let alone, confident in their ability to protect themselves. Whatever is right to be done by statutes must be done by the people for their own protection, and to meet the just demand that rail- road labor shall have public and impartial hearing of all grievances. The commission does not pretend to present a specific solution of these questions. Its effort is simply to present the facts; to point out that the relations of capital and labor are so disturbed as to urgently demand the attention of all thinking and patriotic citizens; to suggest a line of search for practical remedial legislation, which may be fol- lowed with safety, and, finally, to urge and invite labor and raiuroads to hearty co-operation with the government and the people in efforts to substitute law and reason in labor disputes for tlie dangers, sufferings, uncertainties and wide-spread calamities incident to strikes, boycotts and lockouts. To secure prompt and eflBicient data for the for- mation of correct public sentiment in accordance 26o FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT \iith this line of thought, the commission contends that law should make it obligatory upon some pub- lic tribunal promptly to intervene by means of of investigation and conciliation and to report when- ever a difficulty of the character of that occurring during the past season at Chicago arises. This in- tervention should be provided for, first, when the tribunal is called upon to intefere by both of the parties involved; second, when called upon by either of the parties, and, third, when in its own judgment it sees fit to intervene. The proper tribunal should have the right in other words, to set itself in mo- tion, and rapidly, too, whenever in its judgment the public is sustaining serious inconvenience. If the public can only be educated out of the belief that force is and must always remain the basis of the set- tlement of every industrial controversy, the problem becomes simplified. A tribunal, however, should not intervene in mere quarrels between employer and employed, unless the public peace or convenience is involved; but where it is a clear case of public ob- struction, whether caused by individuals or by a corporation, a tribunal should not wait until called on by outside agencies to act. All parties concerned should be notified that the tribunal proposes, upon a certain day — ^and the earlier the day the better — ^to be at a given place, there to look into the cause of the trouble, to adjust the difficulties by conciliation, if possible, and, in the event of a failure, to fix the responsibility for the same. Proceeding in this way the report of such a commission would cause public opinion promptly to settle the question, or, at least, to fix the responsibility where it belonged, and to render successful opposition to the conclusions reached an improbability. To carry out this idea involves no complicated legislation. As authorized by statute, the commission has decided upon certain recommendations and certain suggestions, growing out of its study of the Chicago strike and boycott. These recommendations and sug- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 26 1 gestions axe upon three lines: First, for Congres- sional action ; second, for state action ; and third, for the action of corporations and labor organizations. It readily sees the impropriety to a certain extent of making any recommendations for state action, yet feels it a duty, as a result of its investigations, to make such suggestions as will enable citizens inter- ested in state legislation to benefit by its experience, and also to make such suggestions to corporations and labor organizations as shall tend to harmonize some of the existing diflQculties. The commission therefore recommends: (1.) That there be a permanent United States strike commission of three members, with duties and powers of investigation and recommendation as to disputes between reailroads and their employes sim- ilar to those vested in the interstate commerce com- mission as to rates, etc. a. That, as in the interstate commerce act, power be given to the United States courts to compel railroads to obey the decisions of the commission, after summary hearing, unattended by technicalities, and that no delays in obeying the decisions of the commission be allowed pending appeals. b. That, whenever the parties to a controversy in a mater within the jurisdiction of the commission are one or more railroads upon one side and one or more national trades unions, incorporated under chapter 567 of the United States statutes of 1885- 1886, or under state statutes, upon the other, each side shall have the right to select a representative, who shall be appointed by the president to serve as a temporary member of the commission in hearing, adjusting and determining that particular contro- versy. (This provision would make it for the interest of labor organizations to incorporate under the law and 262 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT to make the commission a practical board of con- ciliation. It would also tend to create confidence in the commission and to give to that body in every hearing, the benefit of practical knowledge of the situation upon both sides.) c. That, during the pendency of a proceeding before the commission inaugurated by national trade unions, or by an incorporation of employes, it shall not be lawful for the railroads to discharge employes belonging thereto except for inefficiency, violation of law, or neglect of duty; nor for such unions or incor- poration during such pendency to order, unite in, aid, or abet strikes or boycotts against the railroads complained of; nor, for a period of six months after a decision, for such railroads to discharge any such employes in whose places others shall be employed, except for the causes aforesaid ; nor for any such em- ployes, during a like period, to quit the service with- out giving thirty days^ written notice of intention to do so, nor for any such union or incorporation to or- der, counsel, or advise otherwise. 2. That chapter 567 of the United States Stat- utes of 1885-86 be amended so as to require national trades unions to provide in their articles of incorpo- ration, and in their constitutions, rules, and by-laws that a member shall cease to be such and forfeit all rights and privileges conferred on him by law as such by participating in or by instigating force or vi- olence against persons or property during strikes or boycotts, or by seeking to prevent others from work- ing through violence, threats, or intimidations; also, that members shall be no more personally liable for corporate acts than are stockholders in corporations. 3. The commission does not feel warranted, with the study it has been able to give to the subject, to recommend positively the establishment of a li- cense system by which all the higher employes or oth- ers of railroads engaged in interstate commerce should be licensed after due and proper examination. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 263 but it would recommend, and most urgently, that this subject be carefully and fully considered by the proper committee of Congress. Many railroad em- ployes and some railroad officials examined and many others who have filed their suggestions in writ- ing with the commission are in favor of some such systeni. It involves too many complications, how- ever, for the commission to decide upon the exact plan, if any, which should be adopted. II. 1. The commission would suggest the consid- eration by the states of the adoption of some system of conciliation and arbitration like that, for instance, in use in the commonwealth of Massachusetts. That system might be re-enforced by additional provisions giving the board of arbitration more power to inves- tigate all strikes, whether requested so to do or not, and the question might be considered as to giving la- bor organizations a standing before the law, as here- tofore suggested for national trade unions. 2. (Contracts requiring men to agree not to join labor organizations or to leave them, as conditions of employment, should be made illegal, as is already done in some of our states. III. 1. The commission urges employers to recog- nize labor organizations; that such organizations be dealt with through representatives, with special ref- erence to conciliation and arbitration when diffi- culties are threatened or arise. It is satisfied that employers should come in closer touch with labor and should recognize that, while the interests of labor and capital are not identical, they are reciprocal. 2. The commission is satisfied that if employers everywhere will endeavor to act in concert with la- bor; that if when wages can be raised under econom- 264 BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. ic conditions they be raised voluntarily, and that if when there are reductions reasons be given for the reduction, much friction can be avoided. It is also satisfied that if employers will consider employes as thoroughly essential to industrial success as capi- tal, and thus take labor into consultation at proper times, much of the severity of strikes can be tem- pered and their number reduced. PART II. LABOR COMMISSIONERS' REPORTS AND WHAT THEY CONTAIN. GBRMAN MBTHOD OF DKAI^ING WITH THB TRAMP QUESTION. ROYALTIES— WHAT THEY ARE. SUBJECTS FOR INVESTIGATION FOR 1894 — RANGE OF OFFICIAI, DUTIES AND THE APPROPRIATIONS MADE FOR CARRYING THEM OUT. Labor Commissioners' Reports and What They Contain. MISSOURI. The labor commissioner of this state, Henry Blackmore, begins his rei)ort with a very interesting chapter on ^^Tendencies/' I quote the following: "Accurate information cannot be too widely dis- seminated amongst a people upon whom rest the tre* mendous dual responsibility of providing for them- selves in a conflict which grows fiercer in proportion to numbers; grappling with economic and social problems divergent and conflicting, which must be passed upon at recurring intei*vals. The verdict so rendered is instruction to those commissioned to crystalize in legislative enactments the will of the majority. "A government by the people is not only the freest and happiest, but it is the most stable, so long as equal rights are not impinged. No lot is too hard, no burden too great, to be cheerfully borne by the masses, if they believe that it is the natural result of natural conditions. If a man believes that lack of inherited ability, want of opportunity, or other like reasons consign him to work for a dollar a day, while another gets one hundred dollars in the same time — because so few cair do the work to command that pay — ^he accepts the situation as the arrangement of God, beyond the control of human effort. But if he con- 268 FOURTH BKHNIAI. REPORT eladas that the gulf of disparity has been widened and deepened hr inndiona laws, that ^t>tect and baUd up one class; if he thinks conditions are par- tiallr the result of legislation in the interest of the rapac'ioos, the cunning, the nnscmpolons, he is no longer content. He refuses to accept the situation with meekness, and begins the formulation of new ideai^ to be propagated^ If he should happen to be an Adam Hmith, the greatest original thought on econ- omy at the time would result, orerthrowing false the- ories, opening up new fields, giving impetus to com- merce, and Titalizing trade in all its ramifications, which in turn gives ^nployment to the idle, increaaes wages, builds homes, Drings comfort and independ- ence. If Herr Most, then the lereling ideas of the commune, with its red flag, the tragedy of Haymar- ket — a faint suggestion of what anarchy might be run riot.^ Again, page 10, he says: "The problem of to-day is the unsolved problem of the ages. In all other respects we have improved and advanced. The question with us is not the ik>v- erty of the poor. Speaking broadly, they are better housed, better fed, better clothed, better educated, get better pay, have more advantages and facilities here than elsewhere. The danger is not from the moderately rich, for they are necessary to the busi- ness of the country, keeping open the avenues of trade and commerce, in vitalizing energy and produc- tion. The danger, supreme and manifest^ is plutoc- racy by the few.^ Referring to wages, he remarks: ^TTie law of wages is, that when the supply of wage-earners is equal to development, the wage is only equal to the rate of living of the average worker. As the supply increases beyond this point, the rate of living is reduced to the narrowest margin above starvation and squalid surroundings; rent iu cities increases in proportion as population increases, mak- ing it harder and harder for the wage-worker to exist BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 269 from two opposing causes of increasing intensity — the lowering of wages with the advance in rent The land-owner, on the other hand, lives easier and easier from the increasing increment of rent, and the cheap- ness of the price of labor he commands. This is progress and poverty, the dire effects of which are prophesied by the ablest pessimistic thinkers of the age. ^In allowing one man to own the land on which and from which other men must live,' says Mr. George, Ve have made them his bondsmen in a de- gree which increases as material progress goes on. This is the subtle alchemy that in ways they do not realize is extracting from the masses in every civil- ized country the fruits of their weary toil; that is in- stituting a harder and more hopeless slavery in place of that which has been destroyed; that is bringing political despotism out of political freedom, and must soon transmute democratic institutions into an- archy.' '' The Missouri legislature, in addition to making the labor commissioner state factory inspector, passed the following law, which I respectfully com- mend to the legislature of this state as worthy of adoption, and necessary for the best interests of our people: "Sec. 1. It is hereby made the duty of the public authorities of each city in this state with a popula- tion of 5,000 inhabitants or more to appoint an in- spector, with deputies where the same are necessary, to be paid by the cities such reasonable compensation as may be prescribed by ordinance, whose duty it shall be to make frequent inspections of all factories employing exceeding ten persons and said inspectors may perform such duties as may be prescribed by or- dinance, and shall make seini-nnTiual reports to the state labor commissioner, and shall also cause any vi- olation of the provisions of this act to be brought to the attention of the grand juries of their respective counties. The duties by this section devolved upon an inspector may, under such regulation as may be 370 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT prescribed by oiidinaA'ce, be performed by any city officer designated by ordinance of such city for the purpose." The commissioner's report* on factory inspection abounds with harrowing details of incidents regard- ing over-work and under-pay, similar to those re- ported on by the United States commission for the in- vestigation of the sweating system in all our princi- pal cities. His recommendations appear to be wise and practicable. As is the case with many others, he devotes con- siderable space to building and loan associations. The importance of these associations, and their re- lations to the welfare of the producer, fully justify the attention given to the matter by labor bureaus. Mr. Carroll D. Wright, commissioner of labor of the United States, is making an exhaustive investi- gation of this subject in all the states, which, when published, will take the place of the results of indi- vidual state effort in that direction. I recommend that the state superintendent of in- surance shall have supervision of the building and loan associations of this state, under laws giving him like powers for investigation, and demanding state- ments that he now possesses regarding insurance companies. MASSACHUSETTS. Horace G. Wadlin, commissioner, transmits the seventh annual report of the statistics of manufac- tures for 1892. The first report in 1886 contained the statistics of 1,027 establishments. In the present re- port 4,473 are considered, comprising returns from the leading establishments in the principal industries of the state. The value of the goods made and the work done was $676,621,503. The report includes the following industries: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 27 1 Cotton — ^187 establishments, employing 75,544 persons; value of goods made, f 100,202,882; wages paid, 126,230,667. Wool — 365 establishments, employing 43,038 persons; value of goods made, 172,681,408; wages paid, 116,154,034. Silk — 20 establishments, employing 2,993 per- sons; value of goods made, $5,557,569; wages paid, 11,296,399. Quarries and Mines — 183 establishments; em- ployes, 4,413; wages, $2,102,220; value, |3,364,697. Clothing — 280 establishments; employes, 9,811; wages, 13,948,154; value, |28,602,244. Furniture — 284 establishments; employes, 5,562; wages, $2,820,068; value, $12,856,202. Machinery — 648 establishments; employes, 16,- 627; wages, $9,311,769; value, $26,867,581. Average annual wages paid in all industries, $452.21. Total employed, 312,146; 33 per cent of whom were females. Mr. Wadlin's report of labor statistics is confined to a tenement-house census of Boston, dealing with the sanitary condition of the tenements and their en- vironments. The number of persoois to each honse^ number of rooms without outside windows, sick in tenements and their physical condition and sur- roundings, occupation of residents, their sex and na- tionality, tendency of a large city to lapse into filthy conditions, causes of a crowded tenancy, habitual loafers, criminals and paupers, etc. The report is exhaustive and exceedingly interesting and instruct- ive. With regard to the tendency of a large city to lapse into filtiiy conditions, he writes as follows: "A large city is constantly tending to lapse into filthy conditions, and is extremely fortunate if, in its remote and retired places, its back-yards and private 372 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT alleys, it does not find itself in a state of chronic un- cleanliness. The danger of lapse into unclean con- ditions externally is much greater, and tlie decadence of the tenements more rapid, when the city is subject to immigration; and especially when in certain dis- tricts the influx of population is of various national- ities, having generally low standards of living, and closely concentrated in tenements which were orig- inally designed for very different and far less numer- ous occupants. This is exactly what has taken place in Boston throughout the concentrated district." In wards six and seven the number of houses has decreased from 2,482 in 1880, to 2,217 in 1892, while the foreign-bom population has increased during the same period 3,273 p^sons, accompanied by a decline of 1,135 in native populaticm — thus showing an in- creased concentration of 2,138 undesirable people into 265 less tenements. It is also noted that in these wards the Irish population decreased 2,145 per- sons, while the Russiain and Italian population in- creased 4,934 during the ten-year period above men- tioned. "Stringent sanitary regulations properly en- forced and supplements by cointinuous tenement in- spection will go far toward improving the environ- ment of the dwellers in the tenement* house districts. These, however, are in the nature of police regula- tions. Take the most obvious evil that is met with — that of uncleanness. EJven superficial investigation will convince any one that there are many families, especially among recent accessions, who do not re- gard dirt as particularly disagreeable, and who con- tentedly live under conditions that would be consid- ered absolutely filthy by those on a higher social plane. As long as this spirit of contentment contin- ues, there cam be no great improvement, and only a perifunctory compliance with the simplest sanitary requirements. Left to themselves, the immigrants BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 273 who come into these districts simply reproduce here the social conditions out of which they came, and far too often they have been left largely to themselves. As long as they commit no overt act we have per- mitted them to live in their own way in their tene- ments. "It seems to be felt that they are most dangerous on account of certain theories and beliefs which they may possibly hold. In reality they are dangerous be- cause of their condition. To permit them to remain untouched by the refining influences of society is not only ethically wrong, but it is also economically wrong. They are not entirely responsible for the fact that tiiey are found under such conditions, that they are wedded to class prejudices, or that they easily ac- quire dangerous social theories; nor are they resiK>ns- ible for the miserable tenements which public opin- ion has permitted to exist. When we cease to regard the immigrant as merely so much cheap labor, or as only an imi)eP8onal factor in production, then we shall have found the real solution of the problem. * * * To return, also, to the subject of cleanli- ness, when its importaaice is recognized it is with great diflftculty that it can be secured with the pres- ent facilities. The tables show a great lack of bath- rooms in the crowded districts, and the provisions for performing the laundry work of the family are frequently very inadequate. These facilities for per- sonal and family cleanliness are generally in inverse proportion to the concentration of the population wittiin the tenements. The city provides free bath- houses, limited in number and rather crude ini ar- rangement, for use during the summer months. These might be multiplied and very much improved, and should be supplemented by a system of free bath- houses for use during the cold months of the year. It would be well, also, if there might be a system of public laundries provided similar to those in use in Paris. In that city the number of public bath-houses are admirably arranged, carefully supervised by the 274 * FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT municipal authorities^ although generally under pri- vate management; and in the public laundries which exist throughout the city, water and tubs are fur- nished for an insignificant fee, aaid upon payment of a slightly larger sum, the wringing and drying is done. Throu^out the city there are stands provid- ing hot water and filtered drinking water in foun- tains upon the *press-the-button^ principle. If these may be profitably maintained as a commercial enter- prise, there is no reason why they might not be es- tablished and conducted by municipal authority, pos- sibly under such slight charges as would render them self -supporting. We may profitably study these pro- visions for public cleanliness and comfort, and also the recent improvements projected by the London county council, which include plans for destroying the slums, an extension of the park system, especially in so-called slum districts, and other efforts in the direction of improving the social condition of the peo- ple." No census of the unemployed of Boston has been taken since 1885. At that date there were 31,262 persons who had been unemployed for periods rang- ing from one to twelve months out of 169,885 engaged in remunerative occui>ations. Mr. Wadlin thinks this the normal number, and says if enumeration were made during October, 1893, the number would undoubtedly be found to be larj^er. His report of unemployment, issued in August, 1894, shows the per cent of unemployed to have been 0.95 in Septem- ber, 1892, and 22.33 in September 1893, an increase of 23.50 per cent, in the state. MICHIGAN. Before accepting a position in the United States bureau of labor statistics, Mr. Henry A. Robinson, as commissioner of labor for the state of Michigan^ ha'd the honor of issuing the largest, as well as one of the BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 275 best, state reports issued by any other state bureau. It is a volume of 1,350 pages, divided into eleven parts, treating on immigration, sociology, building trades, mortgages and ownership of property in four cities, royalties, cost of living, farm mortgages, etc. Mr. Robinson has the following to say regarding labor bureaus: *T?he labor bureaus have been established in obe- dience to the demands, if not the commands, of the great laboring masses, and the results of thetr estab- lishment, only just beginning to be felt, are, neverthe- less, of such a beneficial character as to silence most of those who were opposed to liieir creation. *T?hat the public have begun to see the useful- ness of these institutions is shown by the great de- mand for the publications issued by the various bureaus. The reports of the Massachusetts bureau are, and for years have been, in great demand. This is also true of most of the reports issued by the United States bureau of labor statistics, as well as those is- sued by some of the other departments of statistical inquiry, such as the census and agricultural. Of the demand for the reports of this bureau, it may be said, especially of the issue of 1892, that it was greatly in excess of the supply. This demand has come from all directions and from every part of the world; and, if we may be permitted to add, accompanied or fol- lowed by numerous testimonials as to the value of the reports by those whoi had received copies. If eight thousand of these had been printed instead of the four thousand, to which we were limited by law, there would have been no more than enough to meet the demand. Valuable public documents seldom, if ever, find their way into the waste basket.^^ I regret that want of space prevents further quo- tation from this portion of his valuable report con- cerning factory inspection and fi'ee public employ- ment offices, trade unionism and profit sharing, all of which are treated in a masterly manner. His chap- 276 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT ter an immigration is so suggestive, that even at the risk of crowding out other important matters, I ven- ture to give it entire, as follows: IMMIGRATION. Would Its Restriction be a Benefit to the Wage Workers of Michigan? Among the questions asked of those canvassed by the labor bureau for tihis report was one relating to immigraitioiL The desire was to get the opinion of the wage- workers as to the desirability or non-de- sirability of restricting the inflow of other national- ities upon the United States soil, and particularly upon that part under the control of the people of this commonwealth. The answers to this question indicate in a gen- eral way that a majority of those canvassed favor the restriction of immigration. But many attached pro- visions to their answers, many added conditions to their "yes^^ or "no.'' It is, therefore, both appropriate and pertinent to look a littie into these objections to immigration, and see how much value should be at- tached, from the standpoint of the wage- worker, to the general opinion that the restriction of immigra- tion would result in steadier emplojTnent and higher wages for the working class already on these shores. Some of these conditional answers to the ques- tion of immigration were: "I favor keeping out all foreigners, unless .they come to stay.'' ^^o Canadian should be allowed to work here, and then spend our money in Canada." "Open the door to all except those unable to work, or confirmed paupers." "Keep out every foreigner but artists. There is no true art in this country." "Anarchists and socialists are the only ones who should be prevented coming to this country." BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 277 "Let in everybody but Chinamen/' "No more should be allowed to land. There is not enough work for us who are here now.^ "The more who come, the less there will be for us to eaf "It does not seem tx> me that the restriction of immigration will help us wage-workers anything to speak of." "Immigration and big families are the two great curses of the working men in the United States who have to work for a living." On one thing all are substantially agreed: The people of the United States do not desire, and will object to receiving, cripples and those who are in any way afflicted with contagious or other serious diseases. It is plain that such classess are unde- sirable both economically and socially. They are consumers and not producers, and consequently their presence lessens the average wealth of the na- tion, and burdens the wealth producing classes with their maintenance. They can do nothing but inflict an injury; they can be nothing but incubuses and poverty producers. Another class, also, general opinion objects to as undesirable immigrants. This class is known as the ^^auper" class. But the word "pauper" is com- monly used to mean so many different things that the word should be defined before using. According to Webster a pauper is "a poor person; especially one so indigent as to depend on charity for main- tenance; or one supported by some public provision." If all poor persons were put in the class of paupers, it is feared the majority of the inhabitants of Mich- igan would have to plead guilty to the impeach- ment; certainly this is not what is meant by ^^au- per." The other definitions are the better: "One so indigent as to depend on charity for maintenance; or one supported by some public provision." And 278 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT it is certain that 999 persons out of every 1,000 are united in declaring that paupers as above defined, should not be allowed ingress. The other one per- son in a 1,000 would probably declare for the immi- gration of paupers in order to have proper objects on which to bestow charity. But is this what is meant when speaking of ^^he pauper ^labor* of Europe," or "the pauper Tiabor' of Canada?" The answer can be nothing but "no." The demand, for the restriction of immigration reaches those who are neither crippled, diseased, illiterate, ignorant or lazy. It is a demand that the strong, healthy, ambitious young men and young women of Canada, for example, shall not be allowed to cross the Detroit river for the purpose of bettering their social and financial condition. It is a demand that the hardy Pole, or Italian, or Qer^ man, or Irishman or Englishman, eager and anxious to work — so anxious to earn his own living that he will labor hard for very little — shall not be allowed to step upon our shores. It is a demand that the very classes shall be kept out for whose benefit a few years ago, the Michigan legislature established an information bureau, and had printed in numerous languages, pamphlets, with maps and other illustra- tions, telling them of the resources of Michigan, and imploring them to accept of its natural wealth, and so help to build up a prosperous commonwealth. These are the people whom those who favored the restriction of immigration, in answer to the ques- tion put by this bureau, wish to keep out. They de- mand that people able and willing to work shall not not be allowed this privilege. They ask that all except those born in the confines of the United States shall be denied the right to change their hab- itation in the pursuit of happiness, if such pursuit happens to point in the direction of this republic. The demand that "anarchists," "communists" and "socialists" should be kept out and if already BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 279 here, should be sent back, is not one calling for very serious thought. There are anarchists and anarch- ists, as there are socialists and socialists. Some are very obnoxious, some are not only not harmful, but are really helps in building up an intelligent and self-respecting democracy. The anarchists who would wantonly destroy either life or property; or the communist who wants to divide other peoples' wealth among the undeserving; or the socialist who would rob the prosperous for the benefit of the lazy, are dangerous persons, and society has the right to make regulations, even to the point of exclusion, to protect itself. But are there such in this country? And, if so, where are they, and how many? The Michigan commissioner of labor has a wide acquaint- ance among all classes of social reformers, but he must confess that so far it has never been his for- tune or misfortune, to come across either anarchists, communists or socialists who teach or practice such foolish doctrines. On the contrary, the anarchists, communists and socialists of his acquaintance, are in the main, industrious, law-abiding citizens, above the average in intelligence, whose only sins, if they are sins, are in making some one phase of the labor movement too prominent compared to all the ele- ments and incidents that enter into the problem. It is safe to assume that all the vicious anarchists, communists and socialists in the United States could be transported in the hold of any one of those ocean steamers making a business of carrying human freight. They are so few compared to the entire population, that the effect of their presence on work and wages must necessarily be infinitesi- mal. If, however, all those who have socialistic views were to be excluded from the benefit of this country, it is doubtless true that a great exodus would occur. All the ships would be unable in a year, to trans- 'poTt them to other shores. This is because certain 28o FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT phases of socialism have become very popular, so much so that not a few see what Herbert Spencer calls the "coming slavery'* in the near future. The people's party movement has certain well defined socialistic features, Bellamyism which has a large following is socialistic; and even the honorable mayor of Detroit is to-day advocating certain re- forms in municipal government which his enemies denounce as extreme socialism. Yet neither the members of the people's party, the followers of Bellamy nor the mayor of Detroit are undesirable citizens. Few of them but what produce more than they consume, and doing this they must necessarily be defenders of the rights of property, and upholders of all morality and good government. Why do people desire the restriction of immi- gration — ^the stoppage of the inflow of those able and willing to labor? It is because they think it will reduce the competition for work, thus making their own employment steadier, and probably at an increased wage. Simmered down, that is what it amounts to. They think there are too many people here already. They see, in their own experience, that the average number of days in the year in which they are employed is decreasing, and that, while the average wage per day has increased, yet at the end of the year, their idle time has kept them in poverty. So they reason that if fewer workers were competing for work, the amount of work to do would be performed by fewer persons and be spread over a longer period, to the benefit of tliemselves and their families in the increase of the amount of their annual receipts. It is self-protection that leads them to favor non-immigration. The same idea crops out in the reply of the car- penter who thought that big families were a curse. Big families grow into men and women, and these must in due time labor for a living, thus competing BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 28l with others for a living, thus competing with others for work. The belief seems to be, the fewer there are of us, the better oflf we will be. Is this the true remedy for low wages and lack of work? Will restricting immigration or reducing the size of families give steadier employment or better pay? The writer is compelled to answer, ^'no/' There can neither temporary or permanent benefit arise from following such a policy. An im- passible Chinese wall around the country would not favorably affect the average wages of the country or prevent the rise of millionaires and the increase of the number of poverty-stricken wretches to be found in every nook and comer of the land. It is possible that in some trades in some localities, and in some occupations a temporary advantage might be gained by excluding those who would imme- diately compete with the workers already here. But such temporary gain would, by inviting com- petition from those engaged in more illy compen- sated lines of work, eventually reduce the wages to the average, even if wages did not in the reaction, as is very likely, fall below this life line — ^the cost of maintaining a family in the manner demanded by that class of labor. The true remedy for lack of work and poor wages does not lie in the direction of restricting healthful and natural immigration. Michigan has soil sufficient to support with all the comforts of life more than 5,000,000 people. Michigan has wealth enough within its borders to employ any- where from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 wage workers. Can there then, be too many wealth producers competing for work in a population of 2,200,000 souls, or about 500,000 wealth producers? Only about 9,000,000 acres of Michigan's 36,000,000 are under cultivation. There are at least some 18,000,- 000 acres of virgin soil remaining capable of being put to productive uses. 282 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT What is true of Michigan is true of the United States as a whole. There is ample room for 1,500,- 000,000 souls between the great lakes and Mexico, between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The country is rich in resources that have never been touched. There is only needed the magic touch of intelligently conducted labor to double the per cap- ita of wealth and immeasurably increase the happi- ness of all. There is enough labor to be performed to give every one employment at remunerative wages. Indeed there are not too many wealth pro- ducers in the country; there are too few to do the things demanding attention. What is needed is not restrictions on liberty, but the abolition of those restrictions that make the laborers beggars for employment and destroy their manhood from the very love of their wives and children. Each desirable immigrant brings with him to this country, not only an intelligent, directing brain and a pair of willing hands, but also a stomach to be fed, a back to be clothed and a human soul to be housed. He is a consumer as well as a producer. He gives work to others as well as does work himself. He has wants that must be supplied and that keep pace with his improved social and economic condition. The weaver of cloth, the maker of shoes, the moulder of stoves, the cultivator of the soil — all are called upon to supply his wants, for which he in return gives a quid pro quo — ^full value. This is the only condition on which the others will exchange the re- sults of their labor for his. Now what damage has he been to the community? Has not he really been a benefit? Suppose a book-keeping account were kept between him and the community. It would read something like this: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 283 Mr, Immigrant, In account with the community. CR. By one week's work | 10 00 DR. To one pair of shoes, labor cost $ 2 00 To meat and vegetables, labor cost i 00 To flour and sugar, labor cost 1 00 Tofud, labor cost 50 Todoth, labor cost.. a 00 Torent i 50 5 8 00 Profit on sales.. 200 | 10 00 Thus Mr. Immigrant has exchanged his labor, valued in the market at flO, for labor valued in the market at |8, has given the employer of that labor {2 profit, and has given employment to weavers, shoe-makers, miners and farmers. In all this, who is injured? Take the case of a Canadian who works in Pin- gree & Smith's shoe factory in Detroit, for example, and lives in Windsor, Canada: Mr. Windsorite, In account with the community. CR. By one week's work which sells in the market for $ 15 00 DR. To wages earned 1200 Profit to cotnmunily S 3 00 Has there been any loss here? Is not Detroit |3 better oflf for Mr. Windsorite's labor? What has he taken away with him? Maybe gold, maybe sil- ver, maybe paper money which is a certificate ex- changable for the precious metals. But whatever he has taken he has left more than he took. For the gold or silver that he took is of less value than the shoes he made. Gold is simply another form of labor, and its ^loss" is no more to be deplored than the 'loss" of shoes that wear out, or of what is con- sumed. 284 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT There can be something said in favor of the Can- adian working in the United States and living in Can- ada. If the Windsorite lives in Windsor and works in Detroit, he competes for work alone. If he both lives and works in Detroit, the competition between laborers for work is the same, but the competition be- tween laborers for houses is increased. His presence as a citizen is accompanied by an increase in rents, which is equivalent to a decrease in wages. Increased rent for land is always at the expense of the wealth producer; and the fiearer the competition for the soil, the less the wage worker has to purchase the com- forts a nd necessities of his existence. Widen the hab- itable area of those making Detroit the place where they exercise their faculties in the production of wealth, and the result is cheaper la^id, which means a less outlay for rent This is just what permitting one to work in Detroit and yet live on the other side of the Detroit river does. If half of the citizens of Detroit could And some other spot in which they could live, and yet still work in Detroit, it is evident that rents would fall. Cannot it be clearly seen that those who work in Detroit and yet live in Windsor are, in the matter of rents, doing a service to Detroit renters? Here is a truth worth grasping: If there were fewer Canadians, or Italians, or Poles, or other for- eigners in the United States, there would be less work for us who are already here. Immigrants do not de- prive Americans of work. They give employment to Americans and others, and always exchange their la- bor products to the advantage of both sides to the bargain. Business is carried on under no other con- dition; it could be carried on under no other condi- tion. It must be profitable, or it ceases to be. The apparent over-supply of labor arises from a very different cause than immigration. It has its foundation in the fact that the natural outlet to labor is clogged. This outlet is the land. The United States census of 1880 shows that 20 per cent of those engaged in all the occupations were foreign-bom; but BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 285 only 4.85 per cent of those engaged as agricultural laborers were foreign-born. Yet 14.69 per cent, of the farmers and planters were foreign-bom. This seems to indicate that whenever their finances allow, foreigners go upon the land; so that it is safe to as- sume that were fertile and accessible land practi- cally free, a much larger percentage of foreigners than now, would go upon the land, thus relieving the congestion in the cities. The bar to the land is its legal possession by those who do not occupy it, or work it, and who demand toll from every one who is willing and anxious to exert his strength and intelli- gence in making it fruitful. In another part of this report is shown the fact that the people of the United States are paying over f 5,000,000 in royalties annually to the owners of cer- tain mines and pine lands for the privilege of working the mines and going upon the lands and cutting down the trees. The diverting of this great sum from natural channels — the pockets of the producers — ^to an unnatural one — the pockets of the npii-producers — must necessarily hamper production and discour- age enteirprise. Ab a result, there is less demand for labor, and in consequence greater competition among laborers — ^two evils that rest heavily on wage-work- ers, and that seem to prove that there are too many workers in the world, and too many good things be- ing produced. Too many good things in the world? What a ridiculous statement! In no one line of hu- man activities are there too many good things. There may be a disproportion of one good thing compared to another good thing; but it is not because there are too many of the one, but because there are too few of the other. Where there is an apparent over-supply of one article, investigation will develop that there is an under supply of others. There cannot be too much wheat or too many shoes produced, while one person has not tasted white bread, or one person goes barefooted. In all probability one-half thfe human race does not know what wheat bread is, while an- 386 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT other half is innocent of the i)oe8es8ion of shoes, or anything but the rudest and most primitive kind of foot covering. Make it easy for the people to reach fertile land without paying toll, and the immigration flurry will assume its due proportions in the labor problem. The congestion in the commercial centers will find a nat- ural outlet; the manufacturing interests of the land will have broader and better markets for their wares; and mechaaics, artisans, tradesmen and laborers alike will feel the throb of quickened commerce; the poor-houses, soup-kitchen«, and all kinds of eleemosy- nary institutions will have to search for patrons on which to bestow their charity. There are dangers from immigration. The work- ers of each nation have their rate of life — ^that is to say, their social customs that regulate the cost of rearing a family and supplying its members with those things necessary for their existence, and which enables them to ^T>e as good as their neighbors.^' This rate of life regulates the rate of wages. As a rule, people will work for what will enable them to keep up this rate. The satisfaction of their desires is ob- tained by this wage. Now, it is plain that were a na- tion with a high rate of life to be suddenly deluged by intelligent and capable laborers, whose rate of life was much lower, the competition would bring a hardship on those of more expensive tastes. There are sections of the United States where such a state of affairs has existed. One is California, another is Massachusetts. In one the Chinese have worked evil to the American; in the other the French Canadians have driven those of other nationalities from the cot- ton factories. The only economic basis for Chinese exclusion is the fact of their slow assimilation. They seem to be the same tlo-day, yesterday, and forever. Therefore, they menace civilization, and their exclu- sion becomes an economic and social necessity. There is no other nation seeking our shores of which this can be said. All others almost immediately raise their rate of life, and become as tenacious of their "rights*' BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 287 as those to the manor bom. They acquire more ex- pensive habits, and demand a wage sufficient to ena- ble their indulgence. But under those conditions which would practi- cally give labor unoccupied land free, and that would give ta society for society purposes those values cre- ated by the community, the dangers of any trouble arising from a conflict by reason of different rates of life by different nationalities, would be reduced to the minimum, as no one would work for anyone else at a less wage than he could earn working for him- self. The employers would be compelled to pay that rate of wage which would satisfy those of the highest rate of life seeking employment in that particular calling; and as the tendency of humanity under nat- ural conditions is to progress, the tendency of wages would be steadily upward, until the wages paid was the equal in value to the labor performed. That is the highest rate wages can attain. The history of the world tells the story of com- paratively high wages, prosperity, steady employ- ment and absence of poverty, wherever an intelligent and industrious people enjoy the blessings of a free and fertile soil, and an economical and honest gov- ernment. With millions of acres of rich lands in the United States still unoccuined, the time is far distant when there will be even an approach to population outrunning subsistence — ^to the time when there will be no more people desiring work than there is work to be performed. No restrictions, but liberty, is the true remedy for the congestion of human beings in the commercial centers of the land. ILLINOIS. The report of the labor bureau of this state is en- tirely devoted to an investigation of the condition 288 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT of the working women of Chicago — ^treating of their earnings, lost time expenses, years at work, educa- tion, home surroundings, etc. It also shows an in- vestigation of the sweating system in Chicago. Six thousand females is the basis for the statistics. They were employed in ninety-five establishments, in forty- three industries, pursuing 474 different occupatioins, 43 per cent, of whom earn an average of flS.lS ^er week, and 57 i)er cent, average f4.91; twenty-one earned less than |2 per week, and seventeen more than f20 per week. Separating the forewomen, office force and others of that class from the operatives, the average earnings of the latt^* class is found to be 15.93 per week — 47 per cent, earning more, and 53 per cent, earning less than that amount. Three thousand three hundred of the number are women, 95 per cent, of whom were unmarried; 84 per cent, of the total number of girls live at home with their parents. Of the 2,578 operatives, 360 report a sav- ing of {63.14 for the year, and twenty-four report 121.71 of a deficit. Owing to the fact that so many were not entirely dependent upon their earnings for support, no adequate comparison of income and ex- penses can be made. With regard to the sweating system in Chicago, the commissioner explains: In practice, sweating consists of the farming out by competing manufacturers to competing con- tractors, the material for garments, which, in turn, is distributed among competing men and women to be made up. The middleman, or contractor, is the sweater (though he also may be himself subject to pressure from above), and his employes are the sweated or oppressed. He contracts to make up cer- tain garments at a given price i)er piece, amd then hires other people to do the work at a less price. His profit lies in the difference between the two prices. In the process he will furnish shop-room and ma- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS 289 chines to some, and allow others, usually the finish- ers, to take work to their living and lodging rooms in tenements. The sweater may be compelled to underbid his fellow contractor in order to get the work, but he can count with a degree of certainty on the eagerness of the people who work for him to also underbid each other, so as to leave his margin of profit but little im- paired. The system thrives upon) the increasing de- mand for cheap ready-made clothing, cheap cloaks, and cheap suits for children, which demand springs in turn from the rivalry of competing dealers and producers. Thus each class preys upon the other, and all of them upon the last and weakest. Such is the logic and the operation of the process called sweating. It is practiced somewhat in other industries, but finds its fullest scope in the garment trade, because the articles can readily, and with com- parative safety be distributed to the shops and abode?* of the workers. But the system is not new except in new countries and new cities, and it is now hardly new in Chicago. In this country the whole ready-made clothing trade rests upon the sweating system in some of its various forms. From Boston, for many years, gar- ments have been sent throughout New England, to be made by the wives and daughters of the countiy peo- ple, but the more recent immigration of Poles and Italians to that city has introduced a new form of cheap labor, and much clothing of the poorer grades goes to their shops and Is finished in their homes. Recent legislation and tenement inspection has, how- ever, done much to improve sanitary » conditions among them, and remove much of the danger of in- fectious diseases. From Philadelphia, garments are sent into New Jersey and Delaware, as well as throughout the farm- ing districts of Pennsylvania, to be stitched by women. Vast quantities of clothing, such as cotton and woolen shirts and women^s underwear, are 10 290 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT farmed out under contract to charitable and other institutions, while clothing for the army and navy, and for the postal service, is largely made under the sweating system, both in Pldladelphia and Balti- more. The great centar of the clothing trade is, how- ever, in New York City. There whole streets are re- ported as having shops or home finishers in every house. It is particularly difBicult to ascertain the number of i>ersons thus employed in that city, be- cause it is augmented by every shipload of emigrants from Russia, Bohemia, Scandanavia and Italy, and again reduced by deportations to the west. Sweat- ers' shops are now scattered even among those vil- lages of Long Island and New Jersey, which are easily accessible by ferry-boat from Ne wYork. No successful check upon the system has yet been ac- complished by legislation in that state. A measure recently passed embraces somewhat trenchant pro- visions, but its results remain as yet to be seen. The reports of the factory inspector reveal a state of things not surpassed by the English rei)orts. In Chicago, where it dates back scarcely a gen- eration, the sweating system seems to be a direct out- growth of the factory system ; that is, the sweat shops have gradually superceded the manufacturers' shops. It increases with the demand for cheap clothing, the influx of cheap labor, and the consequent subdivis- ion in the process of manufacture. In the clothing trades in Chicago, three different sorts of shops have been developed, known among the employes as the 'inside shops,'' or those conducted on the factory system by the manufacturers themselves; the "out- side shops," or those conducted by the contractors; and the ^ome shops," or family groups. It is the judgment of the agents who performed this work, aaid whose whole time was devoted to it for several months, after making due allowance for such obscure and remote shops as may have escaped observation^ that 800 would be a broad estimate for BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 29I the whole number of sweat shops in Chicago, and that 13,999 may with propriety be assumed as the maximum number of people who derive work and wafers from them. In the sweater^s eagerness to reduce the item of rent, he seeks not only obscure and inexpensive loca- tions, but for the same reason crowds as many people and machines as possible into the rooms which he hires. From a table given it is shown that in 466 shops, employing 6,820 persons, the average number of cubic feet of air space for each i)erson was only 448 cubic feet, while authorities in sanitary science declare that from 750 to 1,000 cubic feet per head in shop rooms is necessary to the maintenance of health. There are about tihree times as many women as men connected with the sweat shops. There were in all 10,933 persons enumerated as employes of tlie 666 shops visited. Of these, 2,669, or about one-fourth, were men and boys; the remainder women and girls. Of the former, 221 were scheduled as boys — not as youths nor young men, but simply as boys. It was useless to inquire about ages, but the distinction be- tween the boy and man is always sufi&ciently patent Boys, proper, are employed as messengers or errand boys, to carry goods to the button-holer, or to the finisher, or to fetch beer, and they usually receive about f 1 per week. From this stage of usefulness they emerge, after a year or two, into regular shop hands, if they have not improved their opportunities to run away. In the absence of an age classification between women, young women and girls, the distinction is more difficult, but there were listed in all, 8,264 of the sex, 1,939 of whom were recorded as women, aaid 6,325 as young women and girls. Of the former, 1,836 were reported as home finishers by the several sweat- ers who furnished them work — that is, they were on 292 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT the shop lists as outside workers; they were also mostly married women. This leaves 103 of the old«r women, and 6,326 girls at work in shoi>s. In fact, the young and unmarried women constitute pretty much the entire female force in the shops. Judging from appearances, most of these girls are from 16 to 20 years of age; but there is a contingent in every shop of any importance, or in every dozen girls, who be- long in the ranks of chUdhood, and who may be any- where from 10 to 14 years of age. They correspond in years with the boys before mentioned, and they are employed as button-girls — ^that is, to sew buttons on, pull out basting thrc^ids, or to smear button-holes before they are worked. Whatever they do, however, they must do industriously and continuously, undar a system of task service, and exi)osed to all the evil conditions and oppressions of the sweat shops. In number, they are more than the boys of similar age, and their lot is a harder one, by reason of their help- lessness and confinement within the shops. From their primitive labors these little ones soon develop into hand-sewers, with bodies forever bent by their work, or into machine operators, driving machines at unseemly speed and at unseemly hours. Observation; among sweated people confirms the opinion that a direct consequence of their occu- pation is a general impairment of health in both sexes; in men the debility takes the form of con- sumption, either of the lungs or intestines, and of complete exhaustion and premature old age. The girls become victims of consumption, dyspepsia and life-long pelvic disorders. These are the results of the over-exertion, bad housing, under-nourishment and noxious surroundings common to their calling and condition in life. But in addition to the disa- bilities, they are constantly exposed to the inroads of typhoid and scarlet fevers, and other zymotic dis- eases. Cases of this kind develop in the tenements and but too often have but scant medical or other attendance. At the same time and in the same BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS 293 apartments, quantities of cloaks, clothing or child- ren's garments may be present in various stages of finishing. It is hardly necessary to establish the fact that children's clothing is sometimes thus ex- posed and thus infected with the most fatal maladies of chidlhood, for it is apparent that under the given conditions, entire immunity from infection could not be possible; yet the following instances of dis- ease in the presence or proximity of garment making are cited as those which came under the observation of the bureau: A grandmother was found dying of cancer, without medical attendance, in the same room with a man and his wife and three children. The man and his wife were at work finishing men's coats, many of which were lying about the room. In a tenement house a man was found just re- coA''ering from malignant diphtheria, while in the room adjoining, on the same floor and in the room above, knee-pants were being finished, and the "work had not been susi)ended during any stage of the disease. Two children with a loathsome skin disease, were sewing buttons on knee pants. The mother, to show how bad the case was, passed her hand over their faces, brushing the scales upon the clothing. A mother was visited who was at work on silk faced summer jackets for ladies. In the same room was a child sick with scarlet fever. At all these places, and in hundreds of others, the utmost squalor and filth prevailed, with an ab- solute negation of every sanitary provision or pre- caution. Although these four instances are the only ones encountered in visiting over 100 tenements, they are quite conclusive enough as to the possible conse- quences of permitting clothing to go into tenement houses at all.'^ 294 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT In commenting upon the pay roll of one sweat shop employing seven men and twenty-six females, the commissioner says: "The noticeable feature in this pay roll is the number of dififerent rates of wages paid during the year to the same person employed in the same work. In general, the second rate is somewhat higher than the first and subsequent rates contin- ually decline. In one case the woman begins at $5.50 a week, afterwards receives f 6, and then six other rates, each smaller that the preceeding one, and the last |3.75. She worked fifty weeks and re- ceived for it f 199.60, or an average of |3.99 a week. Another beginning at f3.75 is raised to f 4, and there- after reduced through six changes to fl.59 a week, her average for forty-six weeks^ employment being f2.72 a week. On the other hand there are some cases in which the last rate is higher than the first, and throughout there is a total absence of uniform- ity.. Among the startling figures in this table is the record of a girl who worked thirty-nine weeks at wages declining from |2 to 80 cents a week, and who earned a total of f38.79, or an average of a decimal less than fl a week; another worked thirteen weeks at $1.75 and 1.50 a week, averaging fl.51; and an- other worked seven weeks, beginning at $1, being raised to f 1.25, and then reduced to 75 cents a week, and earned in all f 6.46, or an average of 92 cents a week. The ordinary hours of labor required in the best shops are ten each day for six days in the week. In the worst shops in the busy season, sixteen hours are frequently required — that is, from 5 a. m. to 10 p. m., seven days in the week. Those who work by the day or week receive extra pay, or an increase in th^ rate of pay as the season advances. This increase in the busy season is intended, apparently, in some instances, to compensate for additional hours of BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 295 labor, though it is found alike in shops where the ten-hour day is adhered to throughout the year, as well as in those where the daily hours are from six in March to sixteen in August. In other shops the hours in excess of ten are paid for at the same rate as for other hours. Thus, if a hand-girl who works for |3 a week, or 50 cents a day, and 5 cents an hour, works twelve or fourteen hours in a day, she will re- ceive 10 or 20 cents more for that day than for ordi- nary days. The report contains the descriptive details of 173 persons found at work for sweaters in tenement houses. Following are some of the most unfavor- able reports: Vest finisher — Swedish woman of 50, finishes vests at 10 and 12 cents per dozen; in six months earned f 57.08; five years in America, but speaks no English; complains that the sweater does not pay until thirty days after delivery of goods, then not in full. Vest finisher — ^Polish woman of 60, husband superannuated; finishes vests at 1 cent apiece; earned 64 cents in one week; has no book but thinks she earned |50 or |60 in five months; eleven years in America; speaks no English; takes four adult male boarders, and with her sewing supports her husband. Hand finisher — Polish woman, 50 years old, widow, two months in America; has earned |3 finishing trousers at 51-2 cents apiece; has never attended school; with the assistance of three others she supports a family of eleven persons. They all live in four rooms for which a monthly rental of $7 is paid. Machine hands — Two Russian girls 16 and 17 years old; have worked regularly for three years, stitching knee-pants at from 6 to 10 cents per dozen pairs. They work ten hours and stitch three dozen 296 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT pairs a day. They rent two machines for which they pay f 1.50 a week. The family of four occupy four dark rooms on the ground floor of a wretched tenement. The girls support their mother. Their brother, who is a teacher of Hebrew, paying their rent. They have attended school in Russia and have learned to read, write and speak English. Hand finishers — Two Italian families live to- gether in three small rooms; each family pays half the rent. The total amount being |7 per month. The two husbands are fruit peddlers. The wives work together finishing knee-pants at 7 cents per dozen pairs; they finish five dozen pairs per day. They are each aged 26 years; have never attended school; speak no English. In this house a man has just re- covered from an attack of malignant diptheria, with- out having interfered with the work of finishing knee-pants in this room nor the one above. Hand finishers — Italian woman and three daughters, who finish knee-pants at 8 cents per dozen pairs. By working steadily they can altogether finish eight dozen in a day. They do not know the name or address of their employer. They live in filth in the basement of a rear tenement; they speak no English; have never attended school; the father is a sewer digger; the mother is 36 and the daughters 14, 15 and 16 years of age. Hand finisher — Italian woman, 28 years of age, finishes 31-2 dozen pairs of knee-pants in a week, for which she receives 5 cents a dozen ; has been in this country three years; speaks no English; lives Tvath her husband who is a street sweeper, in one room in a cellar with clay floor; the monthly rental is $3. Hand finisher — Russian girl, 19 years old, fin- ishes cloaks at from |4 to $6 per week. She works in a shop, then observes Saturday as her Sabbath ; on Saturday her employer carries home all they can do and she goes to his bedroom and works all day Sun- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 297 day by his machine; he also works. She has been in America one year; speaks no English. Her father has no work. There are four in the family who are supported by this one girl. They live in one wretched room and in a bad and filthy neighborhood. Hand finisher — Italian woman, aged 25, finishes handsome cloaks with fur collars, for which she is paid 4, 5, 7 and 11 cents each. Her husband is a street sweeper; they have been in America eight months; they, pay flO per month for rent of four rooms, which are occupied by 18 persons, nine of whom are children, and four are adult male lodgers. This woman has never attended school, and speaks no English. Home conditions very bad. Hand finisher — Italian woman, aged 22, finishes silk-faced ladies' summer jackets. Baby ill with scarlet fever in same room. This, however, does not interfere with cloak finishing. This woman speaks only Italian; cannot read, write or cipher in any language. Contractor agrees to pay from 2 to 5 cents apiece, but she has no idea whether he pays as he promised or not. Her husband is a street sAveeper and has regular work in good weather. Shirt-waist maker — Irish woman, 30 years old, makes ladies' waists at 35 cents a dozen. These waists must have thrw plaits in front and three in the back, a rolling collar, and twelve button holes and buttons. She is very much pleased when she succeeds in making eleven waists in a day. Her husband is a teamster; they have one child; live in three rooms on second floor of a rear tenement, the monthly rental of which is f 7.50. COAL IN ILLINOIS. Two hundred and sixty-two mines produced from 10,000 tons to over 100,000 tons in 1892, 335 less than 1,000 tons and 242 less than 10,000 tons. 298 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT From the eleyenth annual compilation of the statistics of coal production in Illinois, gathered by the bureau of labor statistics from the reports of the state inspector of mines, the following totals and averages are given: No. of tons of coal of all grades mined 17,862,276 No. of tons of lump coal 14.730.9^ No. of tons of other grades 3.131.313 No. of miners 25,321 No. of other employes, including boys 8,311 Average number of days of active operations, shippiag mmes 219.5 Aggregate home value of total product $16,243,645 The average wages of machine men per diem is given as follows: Cutters, f2.27; blasters, f2.20; helpers, |1.74; laborers, |1.75;timberers,|2.05. Hand miners working by the day earned on the average throughout the state as follows: Miners, |2.16; blasters, ?2.18; timberers, fl.97; loaders, fl.73; aver- age, f2.t)0. The machine men porduced four tons per man per diem, and the hand miners 3.52 tons per man per diem. INDIANA. William A. Peele, Jr., chief of bureau of labor statistics, in his remarks, says: The bureau assumes that the prosperity of the state is largely dependent upon the prosperity of the laboring classes. They constitute the great majority of the people; they are the builders and the preservers of all things which demonstrate progress. The statements of the proprietors, exclusive of the coal mining industry, give the number of em- ployes as follows: Men, 28,830; boys, 1,852; women and girls, 1,778; total, 32,460. Of the 28,830 men, it is assumed from statements furnished by em- ployes that 60 per cent — 17,298 — are married, and BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 299 that the average number of the family is four per- sons, representing the families named, 69,182 per- sons, and a total including the single men, boys, Avomen and girls, of 87,974 persons. Omitting average wages paid boys, women and girls, and including only men engaged in skilled and unskilled labor, it is seen by the statements of pro- prietors that the average wages paid is fl.85 per day, and by reference to the employes' statements, the average pay is f 1.95 per day. The average num- ber of working days in the year being 264, the average yearly earnings, as per proprietors' state- ments, would be f488.40. An examination of the tables will show that, to arrive at an average of 11.85 p^r day, wages begin at less than f 1 a day, and, as has elsewhere been stated in this report, averages in determining wages, are seriously misleading, though unavoidable in compilation of statistics, a fact which requires careful analysis on the part of the student of labor problems. While it may be assumed that a family of four persons may live with a degree of comfort on f 488 a year, the problem becomes difficult of solution when the income is only f 264 a year, which the laborer at f 1 a day receives for his 264 days of toil. As a result, labor, while not demanding of leg- islatures, laws which determine wages, does demand such legislation as guards it against the over-reach- ing methods of employers. Legislation in the past has taken cognizance of certain questions relating to the welfare of labor, as for instance, in Indiana the employment of Pinkerton mercenaries is not permitted by individ- uals or corporations, and thus Indiana is relieved of a disgrace which other states still permit to exist. Indiana has sought to do away with the monstrous iniquity of "pluck-me stores," by the operation of which employes were reduced to a species of bond- age inconsistent with the elementary ideas of lib- 300 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT erty, giving to emplorere, especially in the mining districts of the state, priTileges which rednced labor to a form of slavery in direct conflict with the genius of democratic institutions. Legislation in Indiana has also sought to determine the hours constituting a day's work, eminently wise in all regards, but which has as a general proposition, by virtue of a proviso, been rendered practically a dead letter upon the statute books of the state. Crther laws have be«i passed looking to the emancipation of labor from enthralments which the past has imposed, and for the relief of which only wise laws are adequate. This bureau does not hesitate to say, that with labor, everything depends upon wages. It is the desideratum, the one thing above all others that concerns working men and working women, and therefore the highest welfare of the state. The question of wages touches home, respectability, liberty and independence. It relates to food, cloth- ing and shelter. It includes education, school and church — a decent life and a decent burial. This question of wages confronts society, morning, noon and night. It is discussed at home, in the shop, on the streets, in the lodge room, in the store, in banks and on 'change. It will not down, be silenced or ob- scured, and it has been the purpose of this bureau to obtain such data relating to wages in Indiana in the industries tabulated, as would afford the student of such questions bed-rock facts upon which to con- struct theories relating to the condition of labor in Indiana. It is a matter of exceeding regret to me that I cannot make extended quotations from this com- prehensive report, particularly with reference to wages and living expenses. The following quota- tions must suffice: In attempting to demonstrate how a machinist or any other laboring man manages to live on |312, BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 30I we have only two items that can be pronounced authoritative, earnings and rent; all else is assumed. The bureau attempts the solution of the problem in the following, itemized statement: Annual earnings $ 31a 00 For three adult persons. 365 days, three meals a day» 3.283 meals, at five cents each $ 164 25 Fuel, at I2.00 a month 2400 Doctor bills and medicines 15 00 Clothing, $8.25 each for three persons 24 75 Rent 84 00 Total $ 31a 00 In the foregoing statement the lowest rate is given, the one item of expense that is not assumed, and as has been stated, the remaining items in the account are conjectured, but the amounts are ad- justed to bring the total within the total earnings, 1312 a year. The question arises. Can the amount set opposite any one of the items be reduced? In- deed, can it be obtained for that sum? Can fuel be had for less than two dollars a month? Can an adult person be clothed for a year for a sum less than 18.25? To each of these questions you would give a negative reply and it only remains to ask if |15 is an exorbitant amount for medicine and medi- cal attendance? The result of such inquiry will be that each item, except that of rent, will be regarded as too low, and that in Indiana a man can hardly subsist a family of three adult persons on |312, un- less he resorts to an economy that deprives him of everything in the nature of luxuries. It is shown that the iron industries report 669 la- borers, average wages, days employed and earnings, as follows: Average highest daily wages $ i 79 Average lowest daily wages 97 Average daily wages 133 Average number da3rs employed 242 Average annual earnings 323 00 302 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT The average annual earnings of laborers is given at |323y but the tables show that in twelve instances the annual earnings go below 1323, and are $298, $294, $283, 1260, |259, $249, $204, $293, $165, $136, $122, and $117. It is furthermore seen that of the 669 laborers, 409 are married, having a total of 1,783 in their families, an average of 4.3 to a family. The average annual rent paid by laborers is $88, and de- ducting this amount from tiieir earnings, leaves the question: How do they manage to live on the re- mainder? one of the most perplexing that can be sub- mitted to the public. REMARKS BY EMPLOYES. Moulder. — ^Wages, $1.40; married; rent, $8; can not save any money. In answer I would say that working men are most interested in finding steady employment, better wages, fewer hours, and a right to vote as they please without losing their friends. Laborer. — ^Wages, $1.40; single; save a little money. . I would like to see every laboring man re- ceive at least $1.40 a day, and all given a chance at the trade in which he is supi)osed to be a common la- borer. The men of this shop are interested in the in- surance of the men of the shop. When one gets hurt while working, he is to draw half of his pay. If the hurt is so serious that the man has to lay off, the com- pany keeps 10 cents on the dollar off to pay the in- jured man. Now, what I am talking about is this: We have to wait till we are able to work before we get the money, if it takes a year. Now we want to know what good it does us. And the worst of all is this: That the men who were hurt a month or so ago, and who are working for the last week or two, have not yet been paid, nor does the company seem to make any headway in that direction. Machinist — ^Wages, $2.50; married; three in family; rent, $9; can save some money. I am in fa- vor of the eight-hour law, and for ten hours' pay for BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 303 eight honrs^ work; also, time-and-a-half fop overtime, and double time for Sunday work. The cursed mo- nopoly of real estate speculation, and the high rate of interest on money are the chief causes why the laboring classes do not own the houses in which they live. Laborer. — ^Wages, fl.l2; three in family; family assists in supporting family to the amount of $100; owns the house he lives in.* My view is that any- thing less than f 1.50 a day is not fit to support any hard-working man. Brass-moulder, journeyman. — Please excuse one who makes no pretensions as to education. It seems to me that a law restricting immigration would give immediate relief in a country where there are hun- dreds of thousands of men, the majority of them will- ing to work, but who are displaced by the pauper laborers of Europe, who accept any wages, no differ- ence how small. Piece-work should be abolished; it is demoralizing every trade. Indiana has an eight- hour law, but it is a dead letter; esi)ecially so long as pauper laborers fronj Europe are willing to work from sixteen to twenty hours out of every twenty- four. It amounts to nothing. For one who has giv- en thought to the labor question, and who does not believe there is a cure for every ill in this sin-cursed world, I am convinced that, until the producers rise in their might and elect men from their own ranks, who will pass laws controlling the railroads and the banks of the United States, and compel foreign syn- dicates and every citizen of the United States to sell all lands not needed for special use, the ills which now afflict us will continue, and grow worse, until a few men will own all the land and money, and the many will be slaves. Blacksmith, journeyman. — (1) A fixed number of hours for a day's work, and punishment for the bo«s that works his men overtime. (2) A law against re- questing men to work on Sunday, and fine or impris- onment for the men in charge, or the employer. (3) I 304 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT think the number of hours constituting a day^s labor should be reduced at least one hour. The law as it stands is nothing; that is the way it looks to me, as all the employer has to say is to work till 9 or 10 o^cloek, as the case may be, and fully three-fourths of them have to do it or be discharged. A law without a penalty is useless, so far as working men are con- cerned. WOOD INDUSTRIES. Of 119 establishments, employing 2,885 persons, averaging 3.47 i)ersons to a family, or a total of 5,879 depending for support on 1,726 of the above workers, the average daily earnings were fl.74; number of days employed, 262; annual earnings, 1457; average rent paid by 1,037 persons, f 93.12. WOOLEN INDUSTRIES. Average wages paid per diem, f 1.48 for 238 days, or |352 per annum. COAL MINERS. Fifty-two mines report a product of two million tons in 209 days, by 5,061 miners, an average of 398 tons per capita. In pick mines the average daily product was 3 1-4 tons per diem, at wages ranging from 74 cents to $2.40 per diem; average cost per ton, 65 3-4 cents. The machine mines are said to have averaged 20 tons per diem per machine, at a cost ranging from 6 1-2 cents to 52 1-2 cents per ton, a± wages from f 1.63 to $2.50, or an average of $2.40 per diem. Conclud- ing, the commissioner states: **In the machine mines the average number of days the miners were employed was 158; the average yearly income, $337, and tlie average yearly expenses, $332 — showing an excess of income over expenses of $5. In this it is seen that the annual earnings of BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 305 machine miners are $96 in excess of the earnings of the pick miners, while the annual expenses are practically the same, the difference being only f 2. "It is seen that pick miners, working 156 days, earn $241; hence, had they worked full time, say 300 days, this income would have been $463, and $129 in excess of annual expenses; and if to this excess of in- come over the expenses the loss of 47 cents a day by screeuage, could be added, excess of earnings over ex- penses would amount to $270 a year. "In the case of the machine miners, the showing would be still better. In working 158 days, their in- come was $337, but had they worked full time, 300 days, their annual earnings would have amounted to $639, or $307 over annual expenses; and if to this loss by screenage could be added $141, the excess of earnings over expenses would be $448. "Of the 674 miners representing the 73 mines, pick and machine, which have been tabulated, 191, or 28.33 per cent, owned the houses in which they lived, and those renting paid a monthly rent of about $4.56, or an average annual rent of $54.72. "Of the 674 miners repreeenting the 73 mines, pick and machine, 505 were married, having an ag- gregate of persons in their families of 2,538; or, prac- tically five persons to the family. "In summing up the matter, the question natur- ally arises : How do men receiving an income of $241, or at best $387, with an average of five persons to the family, manage to live? In answering the question, a miner said: *They do not live; they simply exist;' and such an existence, it may be said, is a ceaseless struggle." 3o6 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT THE CEREAL CROPS OF 1892. Wheat 43,126,144 bushels, @ $ 83 | 34,409,877 Com 1 1 1, 2 1 7,463 bushels, (^ 40 44,486,755 Oats 37,370,000 bushels, (^ 40 10,951,332 Potatoes 217,709 bushels, @ x 00 2x7,709 Tobacco ii,o74,2xx pounds, # 59^^ 663,898 The yalue of the entire crops is given as |128,- 809,494. AVO. PRXCB Sheep Hogs Cows Oxen and other cattle. x,x6x,702 a.586,380 657.048 X, 085,336 I 4,398,763 00 i3,78i.o6x 00 I5%276,366 00 30,035,530 00 I 3 70 494 23 25 19 38 MORTGAGES SATISFACTIONS NUBtBBR AMOUNT NUBCBER AMOUNT RealBstate 31.323 1 33,346,520 00 13,615 1 10,263,813 00 School Fund ".«59 813.914 00 721 278.351 00 Chattels 13.213 3,413.162 00 2.185 497.414 00 Mechanics* Mens. 2.978 479,09000 903 98,936 00 Totel 49.373 1 38.057,686 00 17.424 1 11,138,403 00 It is to be regretted that the report does not state how the mortgages were satisfied — ^whether by pay- ment of money, or by sheriflPs sale; but even if satis- faction was made by money payment, the increase of nearly twenty-seven millions of mortgage indebted- ness is a sad fact, rendered more startling by the statement of the aggregate value of the farm prod- ucts, to say nothing of the value of manufactures. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 307 NEW JERSEY. Social development and the functions of Bureaus of Labor Statistics. By C. H. Simmerman, Chief of Bureau of Labor Statistics, New Jersey. A marked tendency in modem society, both in thought and in action, is to care less for generaliza- tion, as conveyed by the term national, and to giye more attention to specialization, as understood by the word individual. As national conveys the idea of aggregates, so individual conveys the idea of unit And the broader, more humane conception of the real wealth of a nation is coming to depend more upon the limit of wealth possessed by the individual, rather than upon the amount forming the aggregate or total wealth of the country. Adam Smith, the great authority in political economy, called his fundamental work the *^Wealth of Nations.'' At that period, and until very recently, economists occupied themselves with the total pro- duction, exportations, importations and exchanges of nations. To-day the tendency is to inquire into the wealth of the units of the nation, to see if each in- dividual has his primary wants satisfied. There is a disinclination to measure the wealth of a country by the total sum of its productions and exchanges, but inclination towards measuring its riches by the number of individuals who enjoy abundance in com- parison with the number who are oppressed by pov- erty. This change in the point of observation by students of social problems requires that, before de- termining the wealth of a country* a door-to-door canvass shall be made, to inquire whether each of the inhabitants is in possession of the ordinary nec- essaries of life; whether each child is properly fed and clothed, and if the morrow's meal is forthcom- ing. 308 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT The labor of the economist in the future will be directed to a study of the needs of each individual who composes the nation, and the best means of sat- isfying his wants. Heretofore they have been con- tent to study wide aggregates, large sums, great re- sults; now attention is directed to the individual, the units, of which the totals are composed. It is the applicationj of that thought, formerly applied to *'nonsentient things,^ which at present is applied to ^'sentient'' man. It is the growth of the sentiment of humanity. CJharles Booth, the statistician of London, Eng- land, has indicated by his patient and persevering work the present trend of the economist He gives as a result of his door-to-door visitations in the East End and southeast of London, that, of the five mill- ions of inhabitants of that modem Babylon, one mill- ion and a half, or more than a quarter of the total I)opulation, do not earn more than eighteen English shillings per week for the family, and that during two, three and four months of the year, short time and want of employment reduces this amount very ma- terially; and this in the richest city of the world. Another evidence in the same direction was the count made recently by the authorities in New York city, to ascertain the number of the unemployed. The University settlements, which are so rapidly in- creasing in the midst of the most densely populated portions of our own large cities, are giving facilities for observation and study in the same direction; and the great atention which has been naid to the condi- tion of the slums in all the over-crowded districts, both in Europe and in our own country, presents further proof of the tendency of economists to shift their point of observation. The rule has been to rec- ognize only the wealth of nations; at present we are beginning to recognize the poverty existing as a prob- lem to be considered. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 309 While Adam Smith saw only the power and in- fluence which her ever increasing exports and im- ports gave to the British nation, his disciples see the weakness and danger that lies in the fact that a vast army of her laborers is without work or food, and homeless, and that 40,000 children in its great me- tropolis go daily hungry to school. There is a demand for more specific information concerning the lives of the masses \of the people. It is observed that the estimated general wealth of the country is no criterion to judge the conditions under which a majority of its citizens live. Statistics which relate only to the general increase of wealth, without determining tlie amounts shared by each individual, are of little importance in the study of social con- ditions. For, look where we may, extreme poverty is greatest in communities where the greatest amount of wealth is centered. This fact of increasing poverty side by side with increasing wealth indicates the true mission of the teachers of tlie science of social and political econ- omy, which is, to show how the greatest number can be brought to enjoy the benefits of our present civili- zation, that by the application of scientific discover- ies and ever increasing industrial progress, so far surpass all previous periods in the world's history as to allow of no possible c omparison with the past. The terms capital, rent, division of labor, banks, balance of trade, commercial treaties, association, co-operation, etc., in reality have no significance if they do not tend toward the increase of knowledge and happiness of the individual, which alone can secure to the state prosperity and peace. The insuf- ficiency of the generally accepted theories of societary organization and the need of more accurate know- ledge concerning the natural laws that underlie our social arrangement, is quite apparent to all who give the matter any attention. Let any who care to try the experiment, ask the first ten or fifty men they meet, irrespective of conditions in life, and note the 3IO FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT answers to queries concerning any one of the domin- ant questions of the day; money, tariff, cause of hard times, want of employment, etc., and they will be astonished to find how few there are who even claim to have made any study of causes at all. The con- fusion of ideas is even greater among the so-called educated classes than anywhere else. The fact is that we find men in public life who have been taught in the same school, graduates from the same colleges and studied in the same books, acting in direct opposition to each other in all mat- ters of public policy, and each justifying his actions by what is called sound principles of political econ- omy. About the only matter of agreement seems to be that it is the right of each individual to adopt what- ever, in his own judgment, may seem to contribute most to his own interests, without any responsibility for its effect upon the collective well-being, which is theoretical anarchy, pure and simple. And as a result, we see practices justified publicly that, as in- dividuals, the great body of society condemns. This, we believe, would be remedied if the study of economic science were confined to ascertain facts, instead of mere opinions of the writers on the sub- jects. To illustrate: Why should statesmen differ about the effects of the tariff? If it promotes the in- terests of the greatest number, it ought to be dem- onstrable by some principle of political science. This controversy has been going on since the beginning of the government, and while the basis of conflicting opinions remain substantially the same, apparently the problem is\no nearer a solution now than at the beginning. On one side of the controversy it is contended that, owing to the fact that wages paid to labor are higher in this country than in Europe, without the protection given by duties on imports, wages and the "oneral condition pf workinccnien in this country would decline to the level of foreign countries. On BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 3II the other side, the opponents of a tariff argue that the effects of a tariff are to restrict the employment of labor, and consequently is injurious. On one side it is said that the higher wages and better social con- ditions prevailing here tend to enhance the cost of production, while on the other side it is asserted with equal vehemence, that the higher wages paid here have a directly opposite effects — that the stimu- lus of high wages is to increase the efficiency of labor in an ever increasing ratio. For more than a hundred years this talk has been going on. Our representa- tives in Congress have spent months of their time yearly debating this question at the expense of the people. Great political parties have taken sides in the controversy; campaign orators, writers and news- papers have filled the country with literature on the subject; at times when changes in the rates was threatened, industry has been paralyzed and hun- dreds of thousands of workmen thrown out of em- ployment, on the pretext that the intended legisla- tion would be ruinous; while apparently during all these years of controversy it has never occurred to our statesmen that the points at issue between them were susceptible of demonstration by means of sta- tistics. The same observation applies with equal force to the recurrence of panics, the unemployed, the centralization of wealth, the growth and power of monopolies; all these are matters of vital interest to the whole people, yet, the causes that produce them have not been made a matter of concerted in- vestigation. In every day business the same con- fusion exists; we hear of supply and demand, of over production, of under consumption, the extravagance of the poor, fluctuations in the prices of commodities and wages. Any one of these pretended causes may be assumed by those interested in accounting for social and industrial defects with about equal pro- priety, so far as any scientific explanation of them is concerned. And the assertion is not infrequent, that production, consumption, consumption and ex- change are mere matters of lottery. 312 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT When we consider that the organization of in- dustry is substantially the same in all the leading commercial countries of the worid, there ought not to be any great difficulty in determining the relative cost of production in units, if undertaken by govern- ment authority, under the supervision of competent men. The United States government, by a census every ten years, approximately shows the aggregate yearly increase of wealth in the country. The ne- cessity of knowing how it is distributed is quite as important Without this no just estimate can be made of the practical working of our societary organ- ization. It has been computed that 31,000 individu- als possess 136,000,000,000 of the total $62,000,000,- 000, of the aggregate wealth as shown by the last census report Whether this is true or false, there are at present no means of determining; but the fact that such a statement can go uncontradicted, is a just cause of alarm to all who desire to see govern- ment by the people perpetuated. To the thoughtful mind the acknowledgement of an overproduction is susceptible of but one expla- nation — which is, that it is an evidence of mental stupidity on the part of those who are responsible for it, as well as an economic waste to society that per- mits it , Within the past year we have experienced an- other great financial crisis, extending through all the great commercial countries of the world, in de- fiance of all the theories upon which our commercial activities are based. The effect of this has been to prostrate industry, bring distress to millions of peo- ple who have been thrown out of employment, and bankruptcy to thousands who have spent a lifetime in pursuits that are everywhere recognized as legiti- mate and beneficial to society at large. Had an epidemic of cholera visited the country, the public would have iramediatelv demanded the BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 313 enforcement of sanitary regulations to stamp it out; nor would there have been any differences of opinion among our learned sanitarians as to what should be done. Yet in remedies for relief from the distress caused by the panic, our statesmen appear as impo- tent as though there were no such thing as organ- ized industry. The president of the United States imputed the cause to the silver purchasing act; but that act has been void for months, and the good pre- dicted to come from its repeal has not appeared. Although at the last general election the people by a very large majority decided in favor of a reduc- tion in the tariff rates, it is now contended by a large number of representatives that the mere proposition to carry out this expressed demand has destroyed the confidence of the people in the future. Much more might be said in proof of the need for a better understanding of the laws that underlie our social organization. And while admitting that political economy may not be reduced to a positive science by which we can determine with mathemat- ical precision the effects of the laws it treats of, it is contended that by analysis of the elements that con- tribute to the creation of wealth, we mav determine, at least approximately, their relation to each other, and define the laws that control production, ex- change and consumption. When these are under- stood, a scientific solution of the problem of the dis- tribution of wealth is possible. There is no doubt about the capacity of our pro- ductive forces to supply all the demand for the nec- essaries of a comfortable subsistence for every man, woman and child in the country. The problem that has perplexed statesmen for the past generation is not that of production, but of consumption; or, how to find a market that will consume sufficient to keep our productive forces in activity. Poverty, the distress from want of employment now existing, is not caused by there not being food 314 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT enough, clothing and houses to meet the demand; on the contrary, it is everywhere aUeged that the hard times are due to an overabundance of these things. It is acknowledged the right of every man to have an opportunity to earn a living; yet there are mill- ions of men in enforced idleness, who are willing and anxious to have work to do, but owing to some unde- fined cause they are deprived of this right to work. The fundamental principle underiying our govern- ment, and which shapes our political institutions, is the declaration "that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberiy and the pursuit of happiness, and that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men.*^ The preamble to the constitution of the United States sets forth that its purpose is "to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tran- quility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare,'* etc. These declarations consti- tute the basis of our political organization. Our po- litical institutions are founded upon the equal rights of all men. Politically, "an injury to one is the con- cern of all;'* but in our social and industrial organ- ization it is quite different. If one citizen is defrauded of his political rights by another, or by a foreign power, the whole of the moral, and, if need be, the military forces of the government are brought into action to redress the wrong. But the fact that a million of men are de- frauded of the right to obtain a living does not con- cern those who have abundance. Our political insti- tutions are altruistic; our social arrangements are founded on egoism. Politically our ideal is the greatest good to the greatest number; socially we are divided into a mass of warring: atoms. Our po- litical institutions are founded upon principles em- bodied in the constitution and laws of the country, defining the rights and duties of the citizen, and BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 315 made obligatory upon all men; while in our social and industrial organization these are left to the ca- price of the individual, without any comprehensiye system that insures order and harmony in the varied interests incident to our activities. Hence, we have class arrayed against class — ^those engaged in one kind of industry combined against those of another; while there are numerous organizations purporting to be formed for the only purpose of protecting their members from being spoliated by reason of their in- dividual helplessness. These considerations indicate the true purpose of a labor bureau, which is to ^tudy society, the re- lation of the individual members that compose it to each other, and give in detail whatever deductions the facts justify. Labor bureaus had their origin in the aggressive labor movement just subsequent to the Civil war. The demand for their institution was first formu- lated by William H. Sylvis, at the session of the national labor congress held in Chicago in 1868, at which time a formal declaration of principles, or plat- form was adopted. He remarked that 'We may for- mulate declarations, but they amount to no more than the declarations of other bodies of men, nothing more than our opinions. Facts are what we want We want to base our demands on well-defined data, and until these are obtainable, no undisputable de- mands can be made. That labor is the most impor- tant of all material interests, that upon it all other interests hinged, and that, if there is any virtue in giving to any interest a separate and distinct de- partment of government to protect and nourish it — and there certainly is — labor is the interest of all others entitled to that consideration/^ The demand for the establishment of a bureau was unanimously made a part of the platform. That was the begin- ning, since which, thirty-two states besides the 3l6 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT National government and six of the principle govern- ments of Europe have instituted bureaus of labor statistics. While they have not received all the financial assistance from legislators their importance justi- fies, they have very materially influenced the discus- sion of social problems. The objects of a labor bureau are purely scien- tific; its purpose is to make a sociological investiga- tion with a view, not merely to make an exposition of the present state of society, but to aid society in its upward progress. The work of a labor bureau is essentially socio- logical; therefore, it differs from that of all other departments of government. Its purpose is not the mere acquisition of know- ledge, for sociology has for its object the good of the people. It is the business of a labor bureau to study society and explain the laws that underlie and gov- ern social movements. It assumes that social move- ments are subject to general laws, and therefore, when understood, a solution of all questions affect- ing the general welfare is possible by scientific pro- cesses. FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES. At the ninth national convention of the officers of the U. S. Bureaus of Labor Statistics, held in this city, May 24, 1892, it was unanimously resolved that "the commissioners of labor of the different states recommend to the legislatures of their different states the consideration of the advisability of creat- ing free public employment offices, under state con- trol and supervision." This recommendation was the result of an earn- est discussion of the evils of private employment agencies. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 317 Mr. J. R. Sovereign, the chief of the Iowa bureau, summed up the indictments against them in the fol- lowing words: "Some of the practices of private employment agencies are very inimical to the interests of the laboring people; they invariably receive applications for employment and fees for same, far in excess of their ability to supply situations; the advance fee of a poor, needy applicant is received with as much pleasure when the chances of securing a position are a thousand to one against the ai^plicant, as under any other circumstances; they nearly always ad- vertise for ten times as many laborers as are needed. They advertise for laborers and mechanics to go to the state of Washington or some other remote part of the country, under the vague promise that steady employment and good wages will be secured. In ad- dition to the usual fee, the applicant must buy rail- road tickets out of which the agencies receive ad- ditional commissions. It makes no difference whether there is any employment for them at the point of their destination or not; the railroads get their pay, the agencies get their fees and employers get a surplus of laborers, in consequence of which wages decline, many are unemployed, and ' thus trampism is superinduced through no fault of those honestly seeking employment.'* "It was asserted, with much force, that the laboring man out of employment could receive no benetit from private agencies, however well they might be managed, unless he has money to paj' for it. "The laboring man who needs a situation most, is the man without a dollar. He must sell his labor, starve or go to jail. Nothing is a greater strain on the morals of a laboring man than to be out of em- ployment and money at the same time. It is the first duty of government to make it easy for people to do right, and hard for them to do wrong." The plea in behalf of public employment agen- cies was all the more favorably received by the rep- 3l8 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT resentatives of the bureaus of labor statistics, be- cause they were no new idea or untried experiment even in this country. Free public employment oflQces had been established in Ohio under the act of April 28, 1890, in the cities of Cincinnati, Cleveland, Col- umbus, Dayton and Toledo, under the general super- vision of the commissioner of bureau of labor statis- tics and found very beneficial, both to employer and employe. They are intended to aid those seeking help or employment all over the state, without expense to the applicants. The respective municipalities pay for the salaries of those managing the several local employment agencies. The act is an amendment of the law creating the office of the commissioner of the bureau of labor sta- tistics of Ohio, and is as follows: Said commissioner is hereby authorized and directed, immediately after the passage of this act, to organize and establish in each city of the first class, and cities of the first and second grade of the second class in the state of Ohio, a free public employment office and shall appoint one superintendent for each of said offices to dis- charge the duties hereinafter set forth. Said super- intendents shall cause to be posted in front of their said offices, on a sign board or in a suitable place on the building where such offices are located, the words "free public employment office." Tt shall be the duty of such superintendent to receive all appli- cations for labor and record their names in a book kept for that purpose, designating opposite the name of each applicant, the character of employment or labor desired and the address of such applicant. Each of said superintendents shall be provided with such clerical assistance as in the judgment of the commissioner may appear necessary for properly con- ducting the duties of the several offices. No compen- sation or fee shall, directly or indirectly, be charged or received from any person seeking employment or any person or persons desiring to employ labor through any of said offices. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 319 Said superintendent shall make a weekly re- port on Thursday of each week, to said commis- sioner of all persons desiring to employ labor and the class thereof, and all persons applying for employ- ment through their respective offices, and the char- acter of employment desired by each applicant; also of all persons securing employment through their respective oflBces and the character thereof, and a semi-annual report of the expense of maintaining such offices. Said commissioner shall cause to be printed weekly a list of all applicants and the char- acter of employment desired by them and of those desiring to employ labor, and the class thereof, re- ceived by him from the respective offices aforesaid, and cause a true copy of such list on Monday of each week to be mailed to the superintendent of each of said offices in the state, which said list by the super- intendent shall be posted immediately on the re- ceipt thereof in a conspicuous place in his office, sub- ject to the inspection of all persons desiring employ- ment. Said superintendent shall perform such other duties in the collection of labor statistics as said commissioner shall determine. Any superintendent or clerk, as herein provided, who, directly or indi- rectly, charges or receives any compensation from any person whomsoever in securing employment or labor for any other person or persons as provided in this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined in any sum not exceeding fifty dollars and imprisoned in the county jail or work house not exceeding thirty days. The superintendent of each of said offices' shall receive a salary to be fixed by the council of the city, payable^ monhtly. The clerk or clerks required in any of such offices shall receive a salarv of not more than fifty dollars per month; Provided, The compen- sation of such superintendents and clerks so ap- pointed shall be paid out of the city treasury in which such free public employment office may be located. 320 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT WOMAN'S WORK AND WAGES. The report of the chief of the bureau of labor sta- tistics of New Jersey for 1893, on this subject, is a very interesting document. He investigated 3,877 individual workers, of whom 3,119 were en- gaged in manufacturing and mechanical industries, and 758 as book-keepers, school teachers, clerks, do- mestic servants, etc. Eighty-two per cent, of the total number were born in the United States, 206 were bom in Ireland, 154 in Great Britain, 144 in Germany, and 86 in Italy. Their ages ranged as follows: Individuals. Under 15 years 101 15 to 20 years 1,501 20 to 30 years 1,855 30 to 40 years 281 40 to 50 years 94 50 years and over 36 The average weekly hours of work was 63; do- mestics, 81-2 to 14; dressmakers, 61-2 to 13; sales- women, 5 1-2 to 15; laundry workers, 8 to 14; all oth- ers, 8 to 13 hours; 3,124 began work at 7 a. m.; 2,879 quit work at from 6 to 7 p. m. The clasified rates of wages were as follows: Persons. Under |3 per week 219 |3 to f4 per week 381 * |4 to |5 per week 745 ?5 to 16 per week 752 16 to 17 per week 804 17 to 18 per week 373 ?8 to flO per week 449 $10 and over 154 The average number of days^ employment dur- ing the year was 249, or 58 days' lost time, exclusive of Sundays and legal holidays. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 32I This lost time brings the average yearly earn- ings, for the whole number of workinr^ women re- ported, to 1265. The classified list shows that 979, or 25 per cent, received less than ?200; 2,582, or 67 per cent, under $300; and 1,295, or 33 per cent, |300, or over. The list is as follows: Persons. Under flOO per annum 109 ?100 to f200 per annum 870 ?20O to 1300 per annum 1,603 ^00 to f400 per annum 866 $400 to ?500 per annum 327 f500 and over i)er annum 102 The average income from all sources of the to- tal number was f 266, and the average expenditures amounted to f257; but as about 80 per cent of the young women or about 1,280 persons lived "at home,*' and were partially supported by their parents or rel- atives, no exact data for estimating the social con- ditions are given, and we are left to conje.cture as to the amount of suffering endured by those who had no other resource save the scant wages paid them. 11 322 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT -f ^ P 1 i bi e 1 d <• bi a B S ON FOR 189 KM OCT. H jit pi a 11 1^' ■s 1 1 1 % •s 1— 1 > e 2 < u 1 i s 1 H tig Ill ii ll n 1^ d 1 1 1^ 1! Ill d S I ll 1 II 1 S§ a 1 1 ii s 1 ?? 5 S IS 1 "S s -I 111 1 1 1 ISSIONER'S S P OFFICIAL DUTIES ! III "S5-2 8£S 1 1 1 eg 1 d 1 11 1 il •0 .9 Si! i 1 •2 s z n i-J i 91 S Si 35 M H g :«il H S 1 III 2| 3 ^^ PA « tfl <^, 3 8 a « h-I E 1 .-a B i *5 I 1 'iS 1 BURBAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 323 a •c 8 •c o. •g. i-5 .•a £ o S 9 It Si si II lb ;i It 1^ o 8 I V •d 8 01 •' 5« I a fl I' ■2 " It:, •si l1 II If f! ^1 ■II I 2? a & |8 *! o 6 S (0 I '2' a a o 1 l< 11 I- •8 & s !i *S 324 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT IB d •4-4 I 00 M o o {-• o > O CO » n t) w CO p4 W :? o CO CO :^ o o o n P Z ^ l-H s a« t:i4 O £ a< w <5 fH Q o • 5 w s t? 03 p P & CO Q i4 CO < M 0^ 55 o O o HH CO » CO l-H ^4 < iS oi o o Pi o « 3 t o ^.2 3' i US Sfs fill Si 8 8 1 2 81 3^ t Si a *5 Si ^2 i o S a f .11! I •5 6 If 15 z a li 8l P If • 5 3- a i -^s |2JS si £|^ :^5 IhS BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 327 German Method of Dealing with the Tramp Question. The following excerpts from the New Eeview are valuable as an illustration of a new departure from old methods in dealing with the "tramp question/' and the lack of employment among artisans and la- borers. The initiative was taken by Pastor Von Bodelschwingh, of Bielefeld, a small manufacturing town of 40,000 inhabitants, in the Prussian province of Westphalia, The great number of tramps seeking alms and shelter, and the crowd of honest workmen scattered throughout Westphalia vainly seeking em- ployment, had for years attracted the attention of the Bielefeld pastor. He soon discovered — what econom- ic investigators the world over have found in dealing with the question of vagabondage — ^that there are three elements to be considered, and that the matter easily resolved itself into a problem dealing with the following distinct aspects of poverty: First — ^The lusty vagabond to the manor born, who works only under compulsion. Second — ^The large class of artisans and labor- ers who will work if work is to be had, but who will beg rather than starve. Third — ^The smaller class of spirited, independ- ent men, who will starve rather than beg when em- ployment is unobtainable. 328 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT It was to aid the last two classes of his fellow- citizens that the labor colonies and wayside boarding houses were, mainly by his efforts, established throughout the greater part of the German Empire. By the aid of these agencies men who are willing to work may make a tour of the whole country in search of employment, or seek a refuge in the nearest colony when other means of support have failed. The solu- tion given seems to be no less economically sound than eminently practicable, being founded on the solid ground of a service for a service; or clothing, food, shelter, and a small stipend, given in exchange for honest labor. There is nothing eleemosynary connected with these institutions, the intention being to make them self-sustaining by the labor of the beneficiaries. Most of the boarding houses and some of the colonies are already placed upon this footing. We cannot but regard these experiments as hav- ing great practical value for those who, seeing the anxiety and distress often occasioned by lack of em- ployment, stand ready to lend a helping hand, but know not where or how to proceed. The custom of indiscriminate alms-giving as a means of relieving the distressed is a bad one in whatever way we view it. So far from being a commendable action, it should be styled, what it really is — a system to pro- mote mendicancy. Sentimentalism and fashionable fads of charity organizations should have no place in serious economic movements. Bickling is only about forty-two miles northeast of Hamburg, but, being on a branch line, the journey to it is a slow one. One of my Hamburg friends kindly agreed to go with me, and in order to have a whole day before us we went in the evening to the junction — Oldesloe — a small station about twenty- four miles on the way to Lubeck. Next morning we were up betimes, and at 6 o'clock we left for Rick- ling, arriving shortly after 7. Half a mile's walk from the station brought us to the buildings of the BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 329 Holstein labor colony, over which we were shown by HeiT Marcquardt, the comptroller of the provincial government, in the absence of the director. Besides the eating, sleeping, working and recrea- tion rooms for the colonists and the ofQcials, there are commodious buildings for the horses, cows, pigs, etc., of which there is a large stock. The in- mates average about 150 to 160 men — more in winter and fewer in summer — ^and those we saw were quite equal in physique to the average men throughout the country. Some of them are, of course, pi*etty well run down when they seek admission, but the diet, regular hours and healthy labor soon restore them to fitness. The management consists of a director, two fore- men, three agricultural overseers and an accountant, and under their supervision the men do all the work of the colony. The colonists are drawn from all classes of society, there being present in the place broken-down lawyers, doctors, and even clergymen, government officials and shopkeepers, the majority naturally being of the working class. Not a few have been in prison; but when ex-con\icts join it would seem as if they resolve to turn over a new leaf, for many of them do well. No questions are asked of a man wanting admission except as to his freedom from infectious disease. He is admitted if there is room, and it rarely happens that anyone has to be turned away. The applicant has to undertake to re- main four months, so that, after being made fit at the expense of the colony, the colony may in turn be ben- efited by his labor. During his stay his antecedents are quietly ascertained, and his friends are communi- cated with in case of need, but no previous miscon- duct is allowed to affect his treatment He gets a fair chance. The men remain for variable periods, but must leave at the end of two years, as otherwise they would become domiciled and the parish would become liable for their maintenance when they cease to be able to earn their living. 330 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Herp Mapcquardt showed the buildings and stock with evident pleasure, and well might he be proud of them; but it was the farm work tiiat inter- ested us most. For miles around, the country is mere moorland, peat moss and bog, and seven years ago Eickling estate was no exception. It consists of 1,100 or 1,200 acres, and the imrts not yet re- claimed and in course of reclamation, remind us of Flanders Moss, near Buchlyrie. The appearance was exactly the same, the peat being from ten to twenty feet deep, with wet patches here and there. Unprom- ising as it looks, however, large tracts have been brought under cultivation. Reclamation work is done in winter as far as possible, finished up during the odd spare time in spring and summer, and by autumn the land is ready. Rye is usually sown then and a good crop is borne the following season. The chief crops are rye, oats, potatoes, mangolds, turnips, beans and i)eas, and a little wheat There is also excellent pasture, and a number of pine trees have been planted and are thriving. I said that applicants have to sign a four months' contract on entering. No wages are payable as such, but a small bonus is put to the men's credit, and paid over to them when they leave. No beer or alcoholic drink in any form is allowed, drink having been as usual everywhere, the cause of bringing most of the men down. But those who like may have tobacco, the cost of it being deducted from their bonus when they leave. The colonists are very far from having an easy life of it Their working day is from 5 o'clock in the morning in the summer, and 6 o'clock in winter, until 7 o'clock at night, breakfast being served from 8 to 8:30, dinner from 12 to 1, tea from 4 till 4:30, and sup- per at 7. The food is abundant, but very plain, rye bread forming the staple. Very few leave, however, without fulfilling their four months. If anyone does run away, and the bonus at his credit is insufficient to pay for his clothing or boots he has on belonging BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 331 to the colony, he is, of course, liable to arrest for theft. He can easily be caught, being pretty sure to go to one of the other colonies; but cases of prosecution are altogether exceptional. Many of the men after a few months' sojourn are able to get employment out- side at fair wages; others, less self-reliant, but capa- ble enough while under discipline and sure of their daily needs, stay on, until by the rules they must leave. Some of these simply stay out of the parish for a few weeks, so as not to become domiciled, and then return; or they go on by means of the verpfleg- ungs-stationen, or roadside boarding houses, to the next colony. In either case there seems to be a clear gaih to society, as the men are at least striving to pay their way. What are the financial results? This is a very difficult question. The colony has considerable out- lays for management and tools, for the sand and lime required on the land, none being found on the estate, unfortunately, a^nd for necessaries which it cannot produce. Herr Marcqardt stated these roughly at f 10,000. The required revenue is derived from three sources: First — Grants from the provincial gov- ennment, those from last year amounting to about ?6,000 to 17,000. Second— Voluntary subsidies from the large towns, whose natives take advantage of the colonies; Hamburg, for instance, paying $1,500; Lu- beck and Kiel paying smaller amounts. Third — ^Pri- vate donatians through the Missions Verein, under whose auspices the colony was established and is car- ried on, subject to the supervision of a comptroller appointed by the provincial government. Appar- ently, therefore, it costs about |10,000 a year at Rick- ling to benefit some 150 men. But it would be a great mistake to draw any such conclusion. The land of the colony was bought originally for $20,700, and is now valued at f 90,000, so that the increase in value is nearly, if not quite, equal to the expenditure. Bearing in mind the large amount which, but for the colony, would have had to be spent on these men. 332 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT either as paupers or criminals, and tlie fact that they are rapidly converting a dismal swamp into fertile, food-producing land, I think the Holstein labor col- ony may well be pronounced a great success. Our next visit was to the Corrections- Anstalt, about seven miles from Hamburg. This being a sort of penitentiary establishment, details need not be given. Dr. Pohring and Dr. Hasche had both told us that tliey believed the men were being reformed in the free colonies, but their long experience went to show that no reformation was ever effected in the penal ones. All that these were good for vms the elimination from society for a time of habitual pests. We hoped the director might have a tale less sad to tell, and questioned him closely as to the results from a reformatory i)oint of view. "Practically nil,^ was the answer. Prom hospitable Hambui*g we made our way to Hanover and thence by an early morning train to Bielefeld. This busy little manufacturing town, with its 30,000 inhabitants, is about seventy miles from Han- over, on the main line to Cologne. We reached it shortly after 8 o'clock, and at once sent our cards and letter of introduction to Pastor Von Bodelschwingh, with a request that he would favor us with an inter- view. Our messenger brought back word that we should be welcome to come at once. We found his house on a slope of a hill at the outskirts of the town. He may be called the founder of the free labor colo- nies of Germany, and it was interesting to hear from his own lips how the idea originated. Before the foundation, ten years ago, of the labor colony of Wil- helmsdorf, Bielefeld was infested with beggars. Prom twenty to thirty would call on him in a fore- noon, most of them sturdy, able-bodied fellows, but all with the saste pitiful story — ^they wanted food, and would be glad to work for it, but they could not get work. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 333 Well, as already stated, the pastor^s house is on a hillside; the road to it has been cut out of the slope, and is so steep as to be practically impassible for ve- hicles. To the right the land has been leveled for building, but to the left it rises abruptly, and in form- er times portions of it slipped occasionally and blocked the road. It occurred to HeiT Von B. that a rough and ready retaining wall would be of great use, and that the building of it would give employ- ment, for some time at least, to the twenty or thirty hungry visitors who called on him daily. From that day forward, whenever a man came to beg he was offered work at the wall, and got as much as he could eat and a night's lodging in exchange for his labor. In a few days the average number of daily beg- gars had fallen to two or three, and these worked willingly. The others, who did not really want to work, disappeared. But an altogether new class of men now turned up — hungry fellows, who had never come to beg, but who now came to work — if food was to be had for the working. From these experiences the conclusion was drawn that there are three classes among the very poor — ^those who like to beg and will not work, of whom at first the proportion seemed considerable; those who will beg rattier than starve, but who will rather work than beg, if work be forthcoming; those who will starve rather than beg, but who will work for a mere subsistence if work is obtainable. Pastor Von Bodelschwingh at once set himself to work out a plan for dealing with the problem. He began by laying down for his guidance the following princi- ples: First — ^That if a man is willing to work, work ought to be found for him, and he ought to be sure of food and shelter, at least, in exchange. Second — ^That work ought to be had, and the remuneration relative- ly low, so that the man may have every inducement to search for employment in the ordinary way. Third — ^That almsgiving should cease save in very ex- ceptional circumstances. To give effect to his ideas, 334 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT he asked his countrymen to join in establishing: First, labor colonies; second, boarding stations, or inns, for laborers on the tramp; and third, a league against house-to-house begging. Sufifcient funds for a beginning were soon sub- scribed, and on March 22, 1882, the labor colony of Wilhelmsdorf was opened. Since then the system has become so popular throughout Germany that some twenty-five colonies have been created, and there are now boarding stations on all the principal highways, to enable tramps to work their way from any given point to a colony, or from town to town in search of employment The twenty-five labor colonies are independent of each other, but are represented on the central com- mittee in Berlin, of which Count Zeithen is chairman. Meetings are held periodically, at which the latest improvements in equipments and administration are compared and discussed. In tliis way healthy emulation and freedom of initiative are retained, while practical identily is secured. The colonies are intended to enable men out of employment to earn food and shelter for more or less lengthy periods. Ex- perience shows that they are apt to be crowded in winter, while the inmates are fewer in summer, as they find remunerative out-of-door work readily. Herr Bodelschwingh told us proudly that in 1890 not a single Westphalian had to be told in Westphalia that there was no work for him, summer or winter. Work had been found for all strangers in the summer, but for a few of them it had been impossible to provide in winter. The boarding houses are very numerous, there being already about 400 managed by the Her- bergs Verein, and about 600 others more or less sim- ilar. The aim is to have such inns on all the main thoroughfares, at distances of ten or twelve miles apart, where for four or five hours^ work a day's food and a night's lodging may be had. The plan has been so far carried out that, practically speaking, a man can work his way from one point of the country BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 335 to another, and, in fact, may make a tour around the empire. Between working and walking he is ex- I)ected to do nine hours a day, so that if his tramp has required five hours, he is let off with four hours^ work. The men are recommended to work in the forenoons and wander in the afternoons; but this is not compulsory. The boarding stations, also, al- though more or less independent, are under a central committee in Berlin, so they are practically the same throughout the country, both as regards equipment and administration. They can accommodate from twenty to sixty ti-avelers, and in some of the larger centers they can take in 100. The guests may either earn their supper, bed and breakfast by their labor, or they may purchase them for 12 cents, and may have dinner, too, for 8 cents more; and even less in the smaller places. In each Herberge is hung up a copy of the regula- tions, with a map in the center showing the principal roads to the important places witliin walking dis- tance. As already said, the men are expected to work in the mornings and wander in the afternoons. The work almost always consists of wood-chopping, but agriculture was being added on a small scale in the country places, with a view to being able to pro- vide for all comers in winter. No man fit to go on is entitled to remain more than one night in an inn ; but in the winter, wheni the colonies are crowded, the regulations are relaxed; the current flows more slow- ly, so to speak, and this makes it jyossible to accom- niodate almost all applicants. We come now to the third item in the pastor's programme — a league to put down begging. He got the union against house begging form^, and I sup- pose that everybody who is anylK)dy in Bielefeld, and doubtless throughout Westphalia, belongs to it. Any- how, we saw the small metal ticket denoting member- ship stuck as a warning to beggars, on all the doors at which we stopped at Bielefeld. Members pay a small subscription, to be spent in the organized char- 336 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT ity above described; but no beggar need ask for alms at a door bearing the union^s badge. In our party was a wealthy Hamburg merchant, and, fortu- nately for me, it was he who put the final question, just theni on my lips : "How does it pay ?^^ Up got the pastor, his eyes flashing, and putting his hands on the questioner's shoulders, he said: "Ah! my friend, you are from Hamburg. Like all the rest there, you are cursed with the commercial spirit — ^the everlast- ing business. Don't you know that there are things that you cannot estimate in money? Look what has been done all over Germany! Austria is copying us. England and France, they say, are about to follow. But what has Hamburg done? Nothing. You wait to see if it pays! You Hamburgers have much to answer for. Poor country boys all over Germany look to your fine city on the Elbe as another El Do- rado. If they could only get there! They work their way, beg their way, tramp and starve their way; and when they get there what do you do for them ? Down they go into the gulf!" "But," remonstrated my friend, "do you forget that Hamburg gives 15,000,000 marks a year for charita- ble purposes? Is not that far more than her share?" "There you are again," was the retort; "always a true Hamburger, valuing everything in money. What we want is personal help and interest in our work. But, after all, how does it pay? Well even a Ham- burger must admit that we can show good results. You know the town of Lippe-Detmold, with its 100,- 000 inhabitants? It was calculated that in 1880 it gave at least $24,500 a year to street beggars. Now its share of contributions for the Herbergen is only some $750 a year; and even this is rather hijrher than the proportion of the whole province. The population of Westphalia is 2,200,000, and its contributions are now $13,650 a year, or a little over half what Lippe- Detmold used to pay for one-half of the population. Rickling labor colony is almost self-supporting, and bids fair to be entirely so very soon; and Dusseldorf- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 337 Holzthal has actually shown a lar^ profit. But, my friends," he added, **these two are exceptionally for- tunate. For me^ the aictual cash result is notbing; at least it is quite secondary. There has been a great saying of taxation, voluntary and involuntary; indis- criminate alms-giving, with all its attendant demor- alization, both to giver and receiver, has been almost stopped, and if you inquire of people in this neigh- borhood when they last saw a beggar, they will Uil you they do not remember, or that weeks pass without anyone asking them for alms. And what far outweighs all this to my mind, is the moral elevation of our people, which we have undoubtedly achieved, and the number of men we have saved from vice and crime. These are the priceless victories for which I thank the dear God; and if we add to them the reclamation of miles of waste land, so that we may be said to have *the desert to blossom as the rose,' I think there is no need to ask, *How does it payr'^ It was impossible not to feel thrilled by his fine enthusiasm, and we would gladly have waited to hear more of his inspiring words, but time was flying and we were compelled to drive off to see the first German labor colony at Wilhelmsdorf . As we neared that cily we noticed that the soil was little else than sand. In fact, we had come upon the great central sand plain of Germany. In most places the sand is overgrown with a light coating of heath and brushwood, with small fir trees here and there. Other parts we f6und carefully planted with pine trees at equal distances from one another, and at various stages of growth. Further on the land was under cultivation, or in process of being brought under spade. The staple crop, as usual, is rye; but peas, cabbage, turnips and grass are extensively raised. The grass is of special excellence, three good crops a year being got by a system of irrigation. There is also an extensive market garden where fruit and vegetables are grown, both for the use of the col- 338 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT onists and for the market j and in the buildings we found a large stock of cattle, horses, poultry and pigs. Far more pigs are reared than can be eaten by ttie colonists; indeed, a good part of the produce of all sorts is sold and other produce more suitable for their wants purchased with the proceeds. The men them- selves who had been in the place for any length of time appeared to us quite up to the average standard of laborers, and when we questioned Herr Weller as to whether he was not troubled with inefficient appli- cants, he replied that the tramps who were not able to work, and did not mean to work, knew better than to apply at a labor colony. Of course, applicants sometimes came who were run down; but usually a few days of regular hours and healthy diet set them up again; if not, they were handed over to some es- tablishment for invalids. The usual contract at Wil- helmsdorf is a six weeks' one, for the first fortnight of which no wages are paid; for the next four we^a, which no wages are paid; for the next four weeks, five to seven cents per diem are put to the men's credit by way of a bonus, and this is usually applied by them to the purchase of clothing from the colony store. Those who leave before the six weeks are up get no certificate of character. As this certificate is of great use in the getting of situations, the men very rarely risk losing it. Many, on the contrary, stay for much longer periods than six weeks. At the time of our visit the number of men on the farm was over 120. It is fullest in winter, when it has frequent- ly 200 inmates; and in summer the numbers fall as low sometimes as 75. The cost of maintenance per man seems to be a little more than at Rickling — nearly 22 cents per diem, and about 5 cents on the av- erage for bonuses; i. e., about 27 cents. Our guide told us that almost all the men who came had been brought down through drink. While in the place they worked well and gave no trouble, and many of them upon leaving got into good situations as gar- deners or farm hands. In the early days of the insti- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 339 tation men came who, finding the work hard and reg- ularily irksome, left after a few days, but now that sort of thing was practically unknown. It only remains for me to refer to Belgium, and it calls for little special remark in so far as its existing labor colonies are concerned. They are all of a more or less penal character, so that the Hamburg one may stand for the type. But we find public opinion on the whole question of vagrancy much advanced. In- deed, a parliamentary commission, which has been studying it f6r some time, has just issued its report, of which the main recommendations were: First — Prolonged confinement and rigorous punishment of vicious and incorrigible idlers. Second — Moral and material help of the unfortunate and infirm in houses of refuge. Third — ^Training and educating the young. A bill embodying these was introduce into the house of representatives, and after numerous de- bates there amd in the senate, was passed last Novem- ber, became a law on the first of January, 1892. It gives the courts i)ower to sentence vicious idlers to confinement for i>eriods of not less than two years, and not more thani seven years, during which they will be compelled to work regularly, and will be un- der severe discipline. A small wage will be allowed, and they will be enabled to lighten their lot, and ob- tain earlier liberation by being thrifty and laborious. The houses of refuge will be charitable establish- ments rather than penitentiaries. Able-bodied in- mates will, of course, have to work to preserve them- selves from the demoralization of idleness and to procure their subsistence, but the rigors of detention will be lightened as far as possible. There will no longer be any imprisonment, nor even sentence in the criminal sense, for mere vagrancy or begging. The act of 1886 prescribed a short term of imprisonment, not exceeding fifteen days, before confinement in the depots of mendicity. This the government now holds was indefensible, because, in cases of misfor- tune, it was cruel, and of deliberate laziness absurdly 340 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT inadequate. The committee recommended that the expenses connected with the new system should be borne by the entire state, and not, as previously, by each commune; the government recognizing the un- fairness of imposing upon one commune, because a beggar was bom or had resided in it, the cost of measures adopted with regard to him in the interest of the whole kingdom. This was agreed to by the Chambers in regard to all under 18 years of age, but for adults the cost is to be shared by the state, the commune of domicile, and the province in which the commune lies. To sum up the conclusions to be drawn from the experiments made in the countries referred to, seem to be that a certain number of vagrants and beggars are to the manor bom; that they cannot be reformed; and that the only way to deal with them is to con- fine them, and that not merely for short periods of a few months, in such establishments as compulsory labor colonies. It is not in the nature of things that these should be self-supporting. The more I have thought over the various prob- lems referred to, the more has the conviction been borne in upon me that such work as providing ref- uges for the young, the infirm and the aged, and the creation of town work-shops, and farm colonies for municipalities and local authorities, instead of being left to private philanthropy. Paris, as usual, is set- ting a praiseworthy example. She has long had her municipal hospitals and industrial colonies for va- grants, partly penal and partly voluntary. Now, an agricultural colony for juvenile delinquents is being established, and the municipal council is about to open a free agricultural labor colony near Paris. Surely there could not be a better field for emula- tion among our great municipalities than studying practically how best to deal with these classes. Thrift is a virtue too frequently conspicuous by its absence among the laboring classes; but, however thrifty they may be, it is self-evident that many of BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 34I them cannot possibly save out of their scanty earn- ings a sufficient provision for sickness and old age. They simply rely on their children; in some instances these are indifferent, but in most they are overbur- dened with the upbringing of their own families. Nothing is left but recourse to parochial relief or private charity, involving in either case enormous material loss to the helpers in cost of administration, imposition and* overlapping, apart altogether from the moral loss to the helped. Several of the people we met were of opinion that before long many continental states will admit the principle that every citizen who has worked faith- fuUy for his living, in whatever capacity, up to the age of 60 or 65, has earned a pension quite as much as any soldier or civil servant, and ought to get it as a right. In many states a system of insurance is already in existence, and our late government intended to introduce something similar at the instance of Mr. Chamberlain." In addition to the comments of the New Review, it seems not inappropriate to add: That while the foregoing subject has been handled from a point of view which presents the question of poverty as an unavoidable condition for which adequate and permanent measures for amelioration have been in- augurated; and while there is no reference to the causes of poverty save to allege that intemi)erance is one of them, it is not assumed that the measures adopted are designed to do more than alleviate the sufferings of the impoverished, and nD suggestions are made as to a remedy designed to dry up the stream at its fountain head. While I am in entire sympathy with the methods as detailed, for the re- lief of the distressed and believe with the writer that there is a good field for emulation among our municipalities, in studying practically how best to deal with the idle classes, I am of the opinion that 342 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT there is a far better and more urgent field for emu- lation in studying the causes which produce invol- untary poverty, the best methods for removing them and, when found, of applying these methods with vigorous alacrity. Why is it that so much valuable time and large amounts of wealth are bestowed in dealing with the result — ^poverty — and so little heed paid to those who present schemes for the removal of the cause? It seems to me there are two reasons. One — that which the correspondent of the New Review seems to have — ^is, that i>overty arises from causes beyond the control of legislation, partly from a want of thrift among the producers of wealth, and partly as the results of social laws and customs that have somehow engendered a spirit of fierce competition among the laborers, which impels them to sell their labor for the lowest sum ui)on which they can subsist and reproduce their kind. Another class see in poverty the hand of God im- I>osing upon them the exercise of Christian virtues, for the relief of the poor and their salvation from the effects of vice and crime into which the poverty ordained of God has led them. Still another class, more intelligent, more bold and unscrupulous, who know that labor produces all wealth, realize that by unjust laws they have been permitted through the chicanery and cunning frauds, or armed force of past generations to reap where they have not sown, and to gather into their storehouses the fruits of the labor of others, are now unwilling to listen to the decree of Justice, who demands that they shall give up their, special privileges, get off the backs of the producers and earn their bread through the sweat of their own brows. Some inkling of the injus- tice of our present social relations must have entered the minds of the men quoted as favoring a pension to workingmen after 40 or 50 years of unremitting unpaid toil has broken them down in body and mind, thus rendering them of no further use to BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 343 their masters or to themselves. Truly, they should receive as much consideration as their master^s horse or dog, and I doubt not the measure will meet with the approval of all classes. Even the priv- ileged classes can be induced to do anything which permits their keeping on the backs of the working I)eople. They will even gracefully dismount from the old drudge of 65 and pay him a small bonus for the ride, provided a fresh mount is secured to them and their children forever. To quote the venerable pastor of Bielefeld, "Like all the rest, we are cursed with the commercial spirit." We do not seem to know that there is anything which cannot be esti- mated in money. This question of i>overty can never be adjusted until it is settled right, and that will be when equal access to natural opportunities is the recognized right of each one of God^s children. This can be brought about ui>on the lines of least resistance through the operation of the single tax. 344 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Royalties. From the Tenth Annual Report of Commisiiiocer Robinaon of Michigan. What are royalties, and why should they find a place in this report? Royalties are certain charges upon natural materials which have been monopo- lized by an assumed or legalized ownership of the earth, thus excluding the free use of such natural opportunities, and permitting the holders to charge a per cent, of the product for the privilege of pro- duction — such as a price per ton for coal and iron ores, a certain i)er cent of the market value of the product of silver, gold and lead mines; or a certain price per thousand for the lumber product of a forest It acts as a tax upon labor and capital, be- cause royalties are diverted from the public treas- ury, where they should go, into the coflfers of the corporations or private individuals to whom it does not belong. Such payments restrict production and aflfect the laborer. Royalties therefore, are a proper subject for investigation by a labor bureau, as much as are rents, interest and taxation. Here is a source of revenue worthy the atten- tion of the legislative bodies of the nation and of the state. What will be the effect of a tax on royal- ties? Can it be made to yield a legitimate revenue for the necessary expenses of government, and that without burdening either capital or labor? Should not all royalties be paid to the state instead of to the individual? What is the extent of the royalties BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 345 now annually paid by consumers to the owners of coal, iron, gold and silver mines and forests, are proper subjects for investigation by this bureau and for the earnest consideration, and legal action of the legislature of this state. While no statistical data regarding the royalties paid in this state exist, the United States Labor Bureau has investigated the royalties on the iron mines of Michigan, Penn- sylvania, Ohio, Alabama and New York; the coal mines of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Alabama, Penn- sylvania and Maryland and the stumpage of the pine lands of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. These are the principal sources of the iron, coal and timber of the United States, and these figures will enable the legislature to obtain a fair idea of the immensity of the resources of the country and the ease with which any needed revenue can be ob- tained therefrom. It should also prepare the Colo- rado legislator for a statement of the immense royalty sums paid in our state to the owners of gold, silver, lead and copper mines and quarries and the owners of many other natural sources of wealth that have come into use as population has increased, as civilization has advanced and as science has dis- covered economic methods of utilizing the wealth in Nature's store-house. And, when it is kept in mind that these royalties are no aids in the pro- duction of wealth and that their absorption by the government would not prevent the production of a ton less of iron or coal, or an ounce less of silver or gold or of any other form of wealth, the importance of this investigation becomes apparent. The aggre- gate royalties and stumpage paid to the owners of iron and coal mines and of timber lands in 1889 in the United States were: Timber sturapagre 1421.245,68000 Coal royalties 21,536,93100 Iron ore royalties S.6 14,985 00 Total royalties $ 451,197,596 00 346 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT The total value of the timber product was $907,620,000. The total labor cost, including in- terest on active capital was 1424,766,160. This shows that the stumpage paid by the consumers of timber to the owners of timber land in that year was 1421,245,680, which is 64.4 per cent of its market value, and there is still a profit remaining to capital of $61,608,160. The total value of the product of thd timber lands and the coal and iron mines of the United States for the census year was: Timber $ 907,6^0,000 00 Coal 160,2^,323 CO Iron 33.351.978 00 This product was distributed to labor, capital and royalties as follows: TIMBEB. To labor, for wages and all other expenses of pro- duction ..— $424,766,16000 To capital as profit 61,608,160 00 To land owners as ro3ralty, 46^ 421,245,680 00 Total I 907.620,000 00 C30AL. To labor for wages I 109,130,928 00 To all other expenses 18,828,590 00 To capital as profit, 15 cents per ton or i3J( 10,929,874 co To land owners as rojralty 21.336,931 00 Total $ 160,226.32300 IRON. To labor, for wages and all other expenses $ 21.341,51900 To capital as profit 3.394»968 00 To land owners as rojralty, 59 cents per ton or 25J( ... 8.614,985 00 Total I 33,351.472 00 The following table shows the total product of timber, coal and iron ore and royalties paid by the state of Michigan: BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 347 Timber product $ 74*05o»773 <» 46H $ 34*o63f3S6 00 Co»l, profit 1,397 00 2sf 3^ 00 Iron ore product 15,800,521 00 253c 3,9So,iy> 00 Total royalties 138,0x3,810 00 If the above sum were covered into the state treasury of Michigan it would meet the expenses of the entire municipal^ county and state governments and leave a handsome surplus for further uses. While Michigan is the largest single producer of lumber and iron ore in the United States, it will require no figures to demonstrate that in our state our royalties from our coal, iron ore, silver and gold mines and timber lands would defray the running expenses of our state and municipal governments to say the least, thus relieving our i)eople from a large part of our assessments for taxes. For in- stance: The Rocky Mountain Jfews, January 1, 1894, gives the following figures as to production for the year 1893: Goldmines I 8,295.03100 Silver mines 19,484,66700 Iron mines 2,970,889 00 Coal mines 6,694,283 00 Lead mines 4t987«33a 00 Lumber 3i5oo,ooo 00 Total I 45,932,202 00 Applying as far as possible the royalties of the preceeding tables we have — Iron I 2,970.889 00 2si I 742,72200 Coal 6,694,28300 13JC 870,25700 Lumber 3,500,00000 4656 1,610.00000 Gold and Silver 27,779,698 00 lojt 2,777,797 «> Total I 6,000,776 00 348 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT As the total product of the iron is not the value of iron ore alone, but the manufactured product, the royalty figured is far too high, but as we have no estimate of the value of the products of the quarries, oil w^lls and so forth, we can safely per- mit the estimate to stand. The estimate on lumber royalties are also too high for this state, but on the other hand, the royalty estimated on gold and silver properties ranges at from 10 per cent to 80 per cent, of the product, and as I have estimated the royalty at only 10 per cent, of the product, I believe the aggregate estimate to be much under, rather than over, the actual figures. The Colorado Bureau of Labor Statistics was established at the instigation and upon the urgent appeal of organized labor to the legislature, because they had been studying economic questions and had come to the conclusion that there was no other source than labor from which, by our system of tax- ation, the wealth was obtained to meet govern- mental expenses. As Mr. Robinson, of the Michigan Labor Bureau so admirably states it in his rei)ort: •It seemed the less the fortunate possessor of wealth did, the more his fortune grew, while his plodding brother with scantily filled dinner-pail, knew he had labored incessantly and yet had never experi- enced the luxury of a six months^ voluntary rest free from want.** To search out the cause or causes — if there should be more than one — ^for such a social paradox the bureau was created and was not restricted by law from following any line of investigation that would lead to the discovery of the remedy. Your commi^^sioner believes that the foregoing tables clearly demonstrate that the owners of the si)ecial privileges granted them by law are enabled, through such ownership, to appropriate an unearned incre- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 349 ment that is startling in its enormous aggregate, and is a partial answer to the question of How do ^eat social inequalities come to exist? PART III. MISCELLANEOUS MATTER. RENT AND WAGBS. COMPARISON OF RECENT CENSUSES. THE CHECK TO POWTICAI, CORRUPTION IN ENGI^AND. DEATHS FROM DRINK. AGE RATIO PER lOOO INHABITANTS FOR VARIOUS COUNTRIES. ESTIMATE OF UNEMPIX)VED PERSONS IN THE UNITED STATES. THE WIFE'S CONTRIBUTION TO FAMII^Y INCOME. COW)NIZATION AS A REMEDY FOR CITY POVERTY. THE COMBINATION OF CAPlTXl,. A YEAR'S TRIAI. OF THE EIGHT-HOUR DAY IN ENGI^AND. BARON HIRSCH'S COI«ONIZATION SCHEME. STATE FARMS IN NEW ZEAI^AND. ENGI^AND'S I«ABOR COMMISSION. THE PHILOSOPHY OF MUTUALISM. LAUNDRIES IN GREAT BRITAIN. ADDRESSES TO THE WORLD'S LABOR CONGRESS AT CHICAGO, AUGUST, 1893. Rent and Wages. — An Object Lesson. The following diagram is taken from the alma- nac of the English Financial Reform Association for 1892. It is published as an object lesson in the "Labor Problem/' It has the merit of a clear and succinct presentation of Ricardo's theory of rent as popularly expounded by Mr. George: 0! f 4 3 2 I O * e 3 2 1 d 2 I * c I /.% * * b « « * * a v& * vf ^ * 6 B 5 C 4 D 3 2 F 1 CO W O t a 6 * * * * * b 5 5 * * * * c 4 4 4 4f * ^ d 3 3 3 3 * * e 2 2 2 2 2 * i f I I I I I • 12 354 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT The- diagram represents land of varying desir- ableness; the best lot A, yields a return of 6 to a given quantity of labor; the next best 5, next 4, the next 3, the next 2 and the poorest 1 or a bare living. The first comers appropriate the best lot, and the return for their labor — that is, their wages — ^is 6. Since all are working on land of equal quality, there is no rent. So on lines a we put 6 to wages and to rent in A section. But others come and there are now enough people to cultivate both A and B. It is evident that it will be just the same to the new- comers to work B and get a return of 5, or work A and get a return of 6, one of which they pay to the first comers as rent for the privilege of using their land; for in both cases the ultimate return is 5. On the best lot, A, the return is now 5 to wages and 1 to rent; on B, 5 to wages and to rent Still more come and A, B and C can all be cultivated. The return to labor is now 4, and the line c is — A, wages 4, rent 2; B, wages 4, rent 1; C, wages 4, rent 0. Population increases further, and now A, B, C and D are in use, and the return for labor is now 3, and the line d is consequently — A, wages 3, rent 3; B, wages 3, rent 2; C, wages 3, rent 1; D, wages 3, rent 0. As population still increases, A, B, C, D and E are required. The return to labor is 2, and the line e becomes — A, wages 2, rent 4; B, wages 2, rent 3; C, wages 2, rent 2; D, wages 2, rent 1; and E, wages 2, rent 0. Ultimately the whole land is re- quired. The standard of return to labor is now 1, i. e., a bare living, and the line f is — A, wages 1, rent 5; B, wages 1, rent 4; C, wages 1, rent 3; D, wages 1, rent 2; E, wages 1, rent 1; and F, wages 1, and rent 0. As population increases and land becomes occu- pied, the return to wages tends to decrease, until a mere subsistance wage is yielded, while rent con- stantly increases. By the taxation of land values this "unearned increment*' would be taken for the benefit of the whole community. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 355 COMPARISON OF RECENT CENSUSES. COUNTRIES POPULA'N IN MILUON8 INCREASE, 1871- 1881 INCREASE, 1881-1891 1871 1881 1891 Absolute % Absolute i United Kingdom... Canada Australia New Zealand United States Prance Germany Austria Hungary 31.48 3.58 1.66 .26 3?-9i 35.62 40.60 20.42 15^ 34.88 4.32 2.25 •49 5016 37.32 45.23 22.14 15-74 37.74 4.82 3.19 .62 62.62 38. 10 4942 2384 17.34 3.400.187 742.028 587.155 233600 11.247.783 1,702.186 4.639.051 1,722.507 322,259 10.8 20.7 35.3 91.X 28.9 4.8 114 8.4 2.1 2,855.435 498,534 937,661 128,695 12,466,467 773.964 4.188.877 1.691,017 1.596.670 8.2 11.5 41.7 26.3 24.9 2.1 9-3 7.6 10.2 Total 187.95 212.53 237.69 24.596,756 13.1 25 137.320 11.8 356 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT The Check to Political Corruption in England. The English political conscience is now ex- tremely sensitive to bribery in elections or even the appearance of corruption. Severe sentences upon agents and political disfranchisement of whole con- stituencies, have brought the English electorate very near to perfection. Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, on his recent visit to America, said that corruption and bribery were at present almost unknown in Eng- land. This has been brought about mainly by the corrupt practice act of 1883, by which the expendi- ture of the candidate and his agents is limited to a certain sum, which is calculated upon the number of voters in the district. A promise to give refresh- ment, to pay traveling expenses, or to procure an office, or to give money for any of these purposes, or to give or offer anything possessing value and likely to influence a voter, is deemed a bribery. A loan, a charitable bequest, or even the giving of a holiday to an employe without deduction from his wages, may amount to corruption. The candidate is also responsible for the conduct of his agents, and an offense on their part, even if unknown to the can- didate, will exclude him from that constituency for seven years. If bribery on a large scale, though not traced and fastened on anyone, has taken place, the election is void. If the candidate by any act of his BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 357 own or by any act of his agents, is convicted of bribery, he may be declared incapable of ever again representing that constituency. He may be fined £200 and imprisoned one year; and lie under a civil incapacity for seven years. We present a table showing the legalized ex- penditures for borough and county members of pariiament: NO. OP ELECTORS NOT BXCBBDINO BOROUGHS COUNTIES For One Candidate For Two Joint Candidates England and Scotland. For One Candidate Ireland. For One Candidate 2,000 ^350 £ m £ 6so £ 500 3,000 380. 570 710 540 4.000 410 615 770 580 5»ooo 440 660 830 620 6,000 470 705 890 660 7,000 500 750 950 700 8,000 530 795 1,010 740 9.000 560 840 1,070 780 10,000 590 685 i»i30 820 11,000 630 930 1,190 860 13.000 650 975 1.250 900 13.000 680 1,020 1.310 940 14,000 710 i.o^ 1.370 980 15,000 740 1,110 1,430 1,020 16,000 770 1.155 1.480 In the boroughs the maximum amount allowed for election expenses for any number not exceeding 2,000 voters is, for one candidate, £350— 11,700, with an additional £30 — $146, for every increase of 1,000 votes. In the counties the maximum is £650 — $3,165, up to 2,000 electors, with an additional £60— f292 for every 1,000 of increase. 358 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Deaths from Drink. According to LomMrd, the ratios of deaths from drink for every 10,000 deaths in the following conntrieSy were as follows: Italy X BretUu ao Genoa 5 Vienna ao Turin 5 England ai Amaterdam 5 Berne 35 Munich 6 Bruaaela 40 Dublin 10 Copenhagen 70 Edinburgh xo New York 75 IfOndon la Oldenburg 87 Berlin 13 Kiel 90 Bale ao Stockholm 90 An approximate estimate of the annual ex- I)enditnre on alcoholic liquors in the United States is: Wine I 15,000,000 Beer aio,ooo,ooo Cider 5,000,000 Spirits 95,000,000 Total $335,000,000 Five dollars and sixteen cents i>er inhabitant BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 359 According to the internal revenue reports for 1889, the consumption of spirits was: spirits 81,000.000 gallons Beer 780,000,000 '* Wine 34,000,000 " Cider (probable) 20,000,000 *• Total 915.000,000 gallous Alcoholic equivalent per inhabitant, 1.34 gal* Ions. 36o FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT w u o < Vk J 8 ? R ? Jf J8 1 M u > •< x/x w K at I J 5' 5- 5 5 'g > 1 D O O 1x4 w c OS (1 (1 J ? ^ = S % W *«J CA Q t> § s o »— ( < i S |, g. 2 2 ? « s ' 1 < a2 > o t5 8 Q H (0 J §: ?> g, ? 8. ^ ■ 1 to 2: W PQ ^ 2 S 5 \ 8. ^ 5 = Jg^ 5 1 < l2 *• < *^ H I g I' S ft 8J « ^ ' 1 <5 at ^ Pt ffl b Z < t-H 2 •< 1 1 ^ 5 5 g^ S ? • 1 P ffi < < M < ;S 8 .2 'S s ^ 'f M (« M M •• ■ 1 a. ai » »< O HH cu H 5 u "3 I X c A i , i . i ) BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 361 Estimate of Unemployed Persons in tlie United States. JANUARY 1, 1894. \ In making the foUowing list we have used the actual figures as given through state agents where obtainable. In estimating, we have used the pub- lished statistics of unemployed in various cities as a basis. Taking the proportion the unemployed in the towns rei)orted in a given state bears to the total population of said towns, I have applied that per centage to all the towns of over 8,000 inhabi- tants in the state. I am satisfied that the result ob- tained is an under estimte. The figures obtained in this and other states, warrants this conclusion. STATES Population in towns of over 8,000 Basis % Number out of employ- ment Number dependent Basis Maine New Hampshire Vermont Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New York 120,346 103,000 26,000 1,5^.000 272.800 385.000 3,595.000 783.000 2,150.000 9-5 95 95 9-34 9 8.7 Report 9 ".433 9.785 2.470 146, > 10 24.552 34.650 312.765 70,000 193.500 ) 549 6^0 \ \ r.383.036 2.4 to I New Jersey Pennsylvania 2.4 to I Total 9.000.146 8.95 805.265 1.932.636 2.4 to I 362 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT UNEMPLOYED PERSONS— Continued. STATES Population in towns of over 8^000 Basis Number out of employ- ment. Number dependent Batb Ohk) Indiana Illinois Iowa MiSMuri Nebraska 1,158,000 398,000 1,483,000 368,000 703,000 259,000 166,000 Report Report 9 9 9 Report 335,000 98.348 153470 34,130 63,180 23.310 75.000 Kanfm* Total 4,434,000 14.9 663,428 1.334^56 3tO X North Dakota toUl. South Dakota toUI. Michigan Wisconsiu . Minnesota Total Montana Wyoming Colorado New Mexico total.. Arixona total Utah Nevada Idaho total Washington Oregon California Total »79.330 101,350 371,000 313,000 195,000 958,580 2M Report &Bst. 9 Report 13^ 4034 2,277 60,000 19.180 42,527 138,018 256.036 3 to 2 24,500 11,000 153,000 76,920 33,4<« 56,000 8,500 49.163 99,000 51,000 495.000 1,056 487 25 10 Report 5 5 25 25 10 S 5 10 6.135 1,100 38.000 3,846 1.670 14,000 2,135 4.916 4.950 2,550 49.500 138,783 138,782 BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS. 363 UNEMPLOYED PERSONS— Concluded. STATES Population in towns of over 8,000 Basis % Number out of employ ment Number dependent BasU D^aware 61,000 465.000 231,000 222,000 53.000 62,000 79,000 199,000 47,000 276,000 202,000 33.000 55.000 89.000 34,000 264,000 235,000 9 Report 2 5 Report 2 2 2 2 5 5 2 2 5 2 5 5 5.490 42,000 4,620 11,100 4,000 1,240 1.580 3.980 940 13,800 10.100 660 1,100 4.450 680 13.200 11,250 Matyland District of ColnmbU.... Virginia Weat Virginia North Carolina South Carolina Georgia Florida Kentucky Tennessee Oklahoma, total ArkanMff .... Alabama Mistimippi ToUl 3,597.000 130,190 260,380 2 to I Out of employment Grand total 18,046,313 10.27 1,854.683 1,854,683 3,902,690 3.1 to z Total unemployed and dependent 5,757.373 364 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT If the above estimate be approximately correct, then, with a population as given by the last census of 18,000,000, living in towns of over 8,000 inhabi- tants, we have in such towns about 1,854,000 un- employed persons and about 3,902,690 persons de- pending upon them for support But this is not all the story. We have a total population of, say 68,000,000, deducting tlierefrom the above 18,000,- 000 and 15,000,000 farming population we have re- maining 35,000,000 living in towns of 8,000 or less inhabitants. Would it not be a low estimate to say that in such villages two persons in every hundred are living in enforced idleness? If so, then we have 700,000 unemployed with 1,400,000 dependants to add to the foregoing estimate, making a total of 2,554,000 unemployed and 5,302,690 dependants; or a grand total of 7,856,690 persons which is over 11 1-2 per cent, of the total population. Who can have an intelligent comprehension of the magnitude of this vast concourse of people. Old soldiers who have seen 250,000 men on the field, and but few have been so situated as to have done so, may, by imagining an army 31 times as large form some idea of this multitude. We are considering a pop- ulation more than equalling two cities like London, three like New York and Brooklyn, five like Phila- delphia, sixteen like Boston and fifty-six like Denver. Imagine, if you can, the accumulated wealth that is being consumed by these people. If em- ployed, they would be paid for their labor and easily consume $4,000,000 worth of products per diem — $120,000,000 per month. How long can the country stand this drain upon the resources of those who are yet permitted to labor, and what has the future in store for us if something is not done to re- lieve this strain upon our institutions, are questions demanding our most serious attention and most earnest efforts. BUREAU OP LABOR STATISTICS. 365 The Wife's Contribution to Family. Income. Read before Section P of the British Association, September i8, 1893. It is a matter of common knowledge that there are large numbers of women who work under terri- ble conditions, toiling long hours for starvation pay in the midst of filthy and unhealthy surroundings. A little time ago it was the fashion to ascribe this appalling state of affairs to the sweating system, and to define sweating as a method of employment involving sub-contract. The painstaking inquiries of Mr. Charles Booth, Mr. David Schloss and Mrs. Sidney Webb soon proved that the evils in question were constantly present in cases where there was no system of sub- contract, and were likewise absent in numberless cases where the method of employment was that of sub-contract Sub-contract having thus been shown not to be at fault, the next cry raised was that home- work was to be held responsible, and particularly the home-work of women. The outcry against sub-contract had been swelled by the antagonism of labor to capital — ^the dislike felt by the man who works for wages to the man who works for profit. The outcry against home- work is swelled by the hostility of the workingman to the woman wage-earner. This feeling of resent- ment at women's presence in the wage market is based upon fundamental ignorance of social and in- 366 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT dustrial history. The popular impression seems to be that women to-day are taking a larger share of the world^s work than they have ever done before — that this is a new departure, the outcome of the fac- tory system. As a matter of fact, the share taken by women in the work of the world has not altered in amount, nor even in intensity — only in character. Even in character it has not changed as much as the work- ingman imagines. Leroy Beaulieu has good grounds for hazard- ing his assertion that, if only our classical educa- tion had familiarized us with something more than mere details of the camp and the forum, we should see that the organization of labor amongst the ancients differed far less from our own before the in- troduction of machinery than is generally supposed, and that women took a vastly larger and less seden- tary part in productive industry than our pre- judices will allow us to admit. Confining our attention to later times, how- ever, and dealing with the more precise data to which we here have access, we find that it was in France that woman's industrial position was first secured. Under the fuedal system the serfs in that country had not only to yield to their lords part of the pro- duce of the land, but to render to them linen yarn, pieces of stuff, tunics and other garments, the work of their female belongings. 'Tjong before the tenth century the old seignior- ial manor included besides farms and fields, work- rooms of men and women.'^* Light work such as spinning, weaiving, bleaching, dyeing and the making of clothing fell to the women, most of whom worked in their own homes, but many of them in the gynecaeum. Sometimes the gynecaeum was under the direction of the wife of the feudal lord, ♦**Le Trayall des PemmeB an XIX. Siede:" Leroy Beaulieu. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 367 who allotted the tasks and herself shared in them; sometimes, as in the case of the monastic manor, it was controlled by the abbey intendant, who supplied all the material and saw that no time was wasted. As early as the ninth century, too, associated work entered upon a new phase through the intro- duction of industries into monasteries and convents. The spinning and dyeing of wool engrossed a con- siderable portion of the nun's existence. Not only in many cases did they make everything needfid for their maintenance, from bread down to shoes, but they worked for the outside market as well.* This, as every one knows, they have still gone on doing all through the centuries. Not the least interesting detail in the life of the great Galileo— -contained in an incidental mention in his corresi)ondence with his daughter, Sister Celeste — shows that he had all his needlework and washing done at the convent of St Matthew, in Florence, and was a good cus- tomer to it for candied fruit and citron. Convents, indeed, were active centers of industrial life, and in their efforts to supplement their revenues, competed largely with outside labor and promoted improve- ments. Thus, the Flemish nuns, in their convents near Ghent, brought out that point lace which was so largely produced during the fourteenth and fif- teenth centuries. When we come to the latter half of the middle ages we get a still better notion of the extent and nature of the industries engaged in by women. In the production of luxuries for the nobles, in countries where the industrial arts had made any progress at all, women early bore their share, and that this share was no inconsiderable one is apparent to any one investigating the history of ecclesiastical embroid- ery, white embroidery, the manufacture of such light fabrics as battiste, muslin, silk textiles and, above all, of lace. •Levasseur: **Hlstolre des Classes ouTTlenee," n., di. iv., 139. 368 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT The even larger share borne by women in that productive industry which supplied coarse food and clothing of themselves and their families, is less patent, because industry of this kind was domestic in a double sense — ^being carried on by the family for the family — each family supplying its own wants first and then disi>osing of the residue. Obviously, where all the members of the family work together, it is difficult to estimate precisely the monetary value of the individual contribution to the total labor re- quired. The difficulty exists even when the work is being done for outside custom as is very well illustrated in the present day by the East End tailoring trade. A daughter, receiving subsistence and a certain amount of pocket money, "helps'^ her father; a wife> receiving subsistence and no pocket money, "helps*' her husband. It is not till the wife as a widow and the daughter as an orphan, do precisely similar work at fixed rates for a tailor not related to them, that the world realizes that what is called ^Tielping*' father or husband is really "maintaining herself." In primitive industries the male head of the family disposes of the finished product, sweeps in the earnings and distributes them as his caprice or interest determines. What was the rule in pre- machinery days is even now the rule in some of the surviving domestic industries of England — for in- stance, in the wrought-nail trade of South Stafford- shire, where the man's "stint'' of nails constantly em- bodies the labor of wife and daughter, though his name alone appears on the master's books. Some- thing analogous to this is described by Mr. Scott in his interesting account of the Co-operative Society of Basket Makers at Villaines (Economic Journal, September, 1893). "The baskets," he says, "are entered in the workman's name by the secretary, whether he or his family have actually made them, and he is credited with the amount." BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 369 Where the financial arrangements are of this nature, there is obviously no talk of women's work — the husband is the nominal worker. And I venture to think that a great deal of woman's work in the past has escaped the notice of economic inquirers through this practice of throwing in her work with her husband's.* In sparsely-settled districts and in industrially backward countries, such as England was before the fifteenth century, women are not idle, but are con- stantly associated with men in agricultural labor. In the ^K3rede of Piers Plowman" there is a graphic description of the peasant's wife leading the oxen while her husband guides the plow. "Before the plague," says Thorold Rogers, "women were em- ployed in harvest work, in reaping the stubble after the com was cut (for the thresher or for litter), in hoeing, in planting beans, in washing and shearing sheep and sometimes in waiting on the thresher or tiler." In face of all this evidence of women's activity in the past, it is simply absurd to denounce their alleged increased employment in the present, or to seek to saddle nineteenth century civilization with the onus of having evolved the working- woman and set up competition between the sexes. This competition is no new thing. As early as the reign of Edward III., women's need to earn a ♦Cf. "A history of Agricultural Price® In England," by Thorc^d Rogers, p. 75. 'Hie Manor of Thomcroft— tliat Is, Leatherhead In Surrey— contained one tenant In villenage. From him numercms labor rents were exacted, amongst others, "To find one woman to wash and shear sheep and lambs, and to do this for nothing," This woman would naturally have been either his wife or his daughter. Cf. also Cralgle's "Slae and Dis- trlbutlan of Agricultural H<^dings in England and Abroad," Journal of Statistical Society, yopulation will flow each morning, only to ebb again each night, so that, as in the case of that region of London specifically known as "the CSty,'' the i)opulation of these trading places may tend to decline rather than to increase. This is one natural means of efflux provided for persons of mod- erate means. There is also some degree of natural efflux on the part of the very rich. This class of persons, so obviously less fortunate than the first, cannot, with complete self-respect, remove them- selves altogether out of the city; for the city offers to them special resources of intimacy, of ostenta- tion, of dissipatiom and of occupation of many otherwise meagre and empty lives. Yet more and more the city is perceived by the rich to be a deter- iorating infiuence. They see this, first, in the case of their children, and especially of their boys, and deport them to the better environment of country boarding-schools. This increasing habit is the same in principle as the method long pursued by the New York Children's Aid Society in the deportation of the children of the i)oor. It is a **placing out'* sys- tem. The downdraft of city life is escaped by this colonizing of the children of the rich — a system which procures at least for them, the same advan- tage which has been for years enjoyed by the children of the very poor. Even the grown-up world which calls itself society, feels more and more the strain of continuous city life and its laborious and wearing demands; and as soon as these preposterous demands seem satisfied, the country claims the rich, 380 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT until now, for at least six months of the year, a street of the prosperous in our city might be mis- taken for a street of tombs. There remains^ however, that vast class who have been drawn in by the draft of city life and then drawn down to the bottom. No natural relief comes to them. They have neither the means nor the in- telligence to migrate with the efl8ux. The same in- stinct which drew them to the city holds them there. They are attracted by the chance of easy life, and this tends to make them unthrifty and casual work- ers, until at last they are the worn-out stokers of the great engine-room of city life. Here is the cen- tral problem of city charity. What is to be done with this I submerged class, this j social sediment which drops to the bottom and clogs the movement of the stream? Once more we must answer that no single method can deal with this tragic problem. In- deed, we must add that no series of methods can deal T\ith it very quickly. An evil of such dimen- sions and such unchecked growth calls, first of all, for patience; and the hardest trial of any one who gives his heart to the alleviation of such evils is the necessity laid upon him of slow and imperfect work. "Tlie trouble is,'' said Theodore Parker, of the anti-slavery cause — ^and any charity worker must often repeat his words — "The trouble is that God is not in a hurry, and I am." The logical and natural method is the development of an efflux to relieve this congestion. If the social circulation will not complete itself by natural means, then it must be artificially stimulated, as by the colonization of the unfit. The colonizing — or rather, the domesti- cating — of children away from the downdraft of the city is the essence of child-saving charity, and it is best illustrated by the monumental work of the New York Children's Aid Society. Its 100,000 wards, scattered through all our states and territories, BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 381 justify the title given to this work by one of its most competent observers, as "the noblest work in the world/'* This is the method of anti-institutionalism, and this, I take it, is now the first principle of child saving. No form of charity is, on the whole, so ex- travagant fop any city as the maintenance of great asylums, and no way of life is likely to be so per- nicious to children as life in an institution. "The in- stitution boy," says Mr. Riis, "makes the poorest kind of apprentice. He is only saved from being a tough by becoming an automaton.'* The fii'st rule of wise municipal care of children is not only "out-of-door relief," but "out-of-town relief," and the farther out the better. Such is the colony plan in its simplest form of application. For the indeliidtely more difficult case of the colonizing with adults, we have to guide us two forms of experiments; that of Ilolland and that of Germany, of which last the colonizing plan, attempted by the Salvation Army is a direct, though not a clearly acknowledged, imitation. The Dutch plan reduces relief m the town to the smallest possible proportions.** No great poor houses and few able-bodied paupers are there to be met The policy is that of segregation. Its method is twofold. On the one hand is the voluntary colony, a tract of about 5,000 acres, divided into six large model farms, and 224 small holdings, receiving in all about 1,700 persons. This colony is directed by a voluntary society with state aid. A poor person making application to the society for relief may have the opportunity of removing to a model farm, and, having served his apprenticeship, may be transferred to a small holding and become a ^^ree farmer." On the other hand is the forced labor col- ony. The legislation against mendicancy and vag- ♦J. A. Rlis in The Foram, January, 1894, yetition inevitably tends to throw into the lap of consumers all the bene- fits arising from improved processes in production, monopoly tends to retain all these in producers' hands. It may thus come to pass that, even when prices experience no absolute rise, or even fall a few points, they still range far above what they w^ould have been if gov(^i7ied by competition, the producer BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 399 pocketing all the gains aflforded by new inventions in machinery and methods, whether made by himself or by others. In a case like this, the circumstance that prices have not risen makes it specially easy to deceive th^e public. The profits, how exorbitant soever, are not likely to be published; amd the fact thajt they arise more or less at the expense of all of us, since now, though we pay no higher than formerly, we still do pay more than we should have had to pay with com- petition, is too recondite for popular attention. Press and platform echo the praises of such a monopoly, when it may in fact be a much worse leech upon the body politic than another which, having elevated prices a little absolutely, is deafened with a perfect diapason of anathema. If the lessened cost of the article is entirely due to the monopoly, or to the skill and exertions of those who profit thereby, many will be of the opinion that the monopolists have a right to all the gains thus arising. Massed capital and centralized control are tremendous advantages, and may be made vastly to cheapen production. Ought not those to reap the gains who render possible these better conditions of industry? Ought not society gladly to acquiesce in an arrangement, though per- haps excessively profitable to a few, which furnishes it a given line of products as cheaply as competition ever did? This is a very important ethical question; Its bearings are too manifold for full discussion here. Permit a remark or two, however. Monopolists often utilize, to swell their own dividends, improvements which they had no hand what^v^ in originating, and of which they have gotten the control* by the most doubtful means. To the proceeds of these, society has as good a claim as they. Again, it seems clear that society's right, whether enforcable or otherwise, to participate in the advajntages which the bettered means of produc- tion in any department afford, is not cut off at the limit which invention had reached when the mono- 400 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT paly was established. Some advancement would surely have been made had competition continued. This would then naturally have accrued to the weal of all of us; and the use of any meatns to thwart such a result would have been denounced as an infringe- ment of our rights. If that judgment would have been just, the public is justified in demanding at least that share in the present profits of any form of production now monopolized, which would have fallen to it had not the monopoly arisen. Hence, even if we limit society's right in the manner just in- dicated, the mere truth that a monopoly has not elevated prices, is no proof that its riches have not been gotten in part at the expense of consumers. But I, for one, should not always agree to this limita- tion of the social claim, since, though an existing monopoly may have effected colossal saving, as much as you please beyond what would have been possible with competition, and may have shared these gains with the public so as to lower prices a little^ it does not appear but that a different private monopoly or control by the state itself might have done far better still. Patent rights are limited, however probable it may now and then be that but for the patentee, the improvement would never liave been made. The plea is sometimes interposed that no harm can come to people in general, let monopoly profits be never so high, for the reason that the winners cannot possibly keep to themselves what they get. The wealth cannot remain piled up, it is said, but the very motive which prompted the amassing of it must lead to the spending of it; and this cannot take place with- out a wide and rich dissemination of its benefits. Such as find comfort in this thought are very eaaily pleased. The same logic could be employed to jus- tify the creation of financial princes by taxation out- right. Any such x)olicy would desperately discour- age wealth creation, even if every cent of the vast piles were to be productively spent. The greater part might be invested abroad, profitably for owners, BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 40I at little lees than dead loss to their fellow citizens. But a generally lucrative employment of so great wealth, either at home or abroad, could not l^ ex- pected. Excessive incomes, save in rarest cases, however thriftily intentioned their recipients may be, cannot be invested in the wisest manner. But econ- omists are forced to observe that inordinate wealth almost inevitably tends to impair thrift, leading its possessors to prefer unproductive to productive forms of expenditure. There is hope that combination in Industry may, after all, become an immense net of advantage to humanity. While it is unfortunately true that the central control of each great business must dull the old spur to improvements in i)Poduction, it is to be noticed that combinations open vast possibilities of improvments, which, if another motive to the utiliz- ing of them can be in any way provided, will change the world. In illustration of these new possibilities, I need refer only to the pipe-line system for transport- ing crude petroleum, the colossal scale on which cot- ton seed is now pressed, the tank steamers which carry oil across the ocean, the glorious and success- ful campaign of market-maMng in which the two oil trusts are engaging in Europe and Asia, and the lucrative by-industries which these, as well as the sugar trust, carry on. For stupendous undertakings like these competition was utterly inadequate. Combination's benign power in co-ordinating in- dustry is maiuifest in another sphere. Socialists have said none too much about the destructive cross- purposes and lack of system which of necessity pre- vailed when production was unregulated. Let the business-man be as careful he may, under the style of business once prevalent, he cannot but take most dangerous risks. Competition oflfers but the rough- est means for ascertaining what the next season's demand for this or that line of goods is to be, and still fainter hints touching the output to be expected from one's rivals. Amid such uncertainty, every year's 402 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT operation of a manufactory is to a great extent a game of hazard. Prices fluctuate abnormally, de- ranging and discouraging industry. Lines of busi- ness are overwrought, begetting glut, and necessitat- ing sales below cost; needless plant is set out, which must decay or burn. Losses in these ways are. be- yond computation, and so much the more sad in that they might be avoided. Through such waste of cap- ital interest arises, and wage-yielding businesses, which might have flourished, are prevented from starting. The prevention and destruction of wealth in these ways are great enough to make some econo- mists doubt whether the trust system does not, at its worst, eflfect for society some net saving. I do not think it as yet benefits society thus; but it is very cer- tain that in this matter of haphazard and amorphous production, trusts compass vast economy for some one. They forecast the demand and regulate supply accordingly, much as would occur under socialism. Then, in providing the needed store, massed 'capital and centralized control offer incalculable advantages over the old go-as-you-please way of producing. That the intrinsic cost of commodities turned out by organ- ized industry is less than it would be under comi)et- itive production, no one can deny. The question is, how much, if any, of the saving thus effected finds its way into consumers' pockets. The point for soci- ety to aim at is to continue all the advantages of mon- opoly, increasing them if possible, while preventing the monojmlists themselves from going to sleep or retaining more than their just share of what they make. Society wishes to utilize the trust with all its actual and jxyssible economies in production and to devise some means as efficient as competition, used to be, for breeding inventiveness and for draining into its own till all the savings of all business, after pay- ing producers the cost of production plus a generous profit. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 403 Three schemes for doing this have been proposed — ^1, socialism; 2, the assumption by the state of all monopolized production, and 3, regulation. The first (socialism) is simply the system of trusts made universal, all land and productive wealth belonging to the one great, all-inclusive trust, and every citizen being in effect a holder of trust certificates. This plan would be attended with many and insufferable difficulties, which it is impossible to review in this place. It hBB also been proposed, in order to secure to society the benefits of massed capital under central management, that the state assume, not, indeed, all industries without exception, but all such as natur- ally taie on the monopoly form. Advocates of this IH>Iicy usually have in mind businesses like railroads, the telegraph and inineB — ^those, that is, which never have been, and cannot be subject to competitioiL Whatever reasons there have been heretofore in a discussion like ours for distinguishing these from the other substantive industries of the civilized world, there is none now. All are or are soon to be monopo- lized. The proposal now under consideration would, then, practically amount to socialism, which, as just remarked, is not to be thought of except as a fate. I have no doubt, for my part, that many industries now in private hands will sooner or later be bought by the public power, and I would unhesitatingly vote for thus dealing with any one of them so soon as it proved defiant or subversive of the general good. Until this is clearly tlie case with any given one, reg- ulation should be the method of dealing with it rather than assumption. Many socialists themselves admit that till men are morally better, grave dangers must attend any enlargement of state participation in industry. That policy gives scope for cheating; it is apt to ren- der workmen indolent; amd it narrows the field for invention and other splendid forms of personal initia- tive. It is not wise then, for the state to undertake 404 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT industry faster than this is necessary for public pro- tectian. Try regulation in every case until it certainly fails. No systematic effort to regulate monopolies in the public interest has yet been made^ except in the case of the railways, and even there the effort is as yet none too serious. We shall become serious in this endeavor soon and carry it further. Nothing would be easiCT in most industries than to insure the public against wrongs, while at the same time avoid- ing all injustice to stoc^olders and bondholders. We should be as careful to do no wrong as to suflfer none. But supposing that we can rely upon the regula- tion of massed industry by public authority to shield us from robbery in the form of exorbitant prices, where shall we look for that spur to the invention of improved machinery and of processes which has been the glory of competitive industry? And what is go- ing to put such a spirit into the coming feudalism as may renderf it a blessing, or at least save it from being a curse? Society wants all the good which banded industry can bring it through the agency of great cap- ital and orderiy control; but these benefits alone will not compensate fop the loss of civil liberty or for the decadence of genius in invention and the initiative. If the new age of industry is to advance humanity in- stead of causing retrogression, something must come with it that shall conserve freedom and enterprise. If the solidarity of industry is in store, as I believe to be the case, unless it is to bring some such preserva- tive accompaniment, the outlook is gloomy indeed. What can we hope? That is aj question which politi- cal economy does not answer. It brings us to one of the very numerous points where political economy abuts upon ethics. That the approaching industrifd age may caary our dear humanity a step nearer its millenium, moral betterment must come to men. We must have more philanthropy, richer, more solid char- acter, willingness in men to do for love what, hitherto, only money could induce. Nor is this humanity's BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 405 embroglio heore alone. At every point economic ad- vance, increase in temiK>ral good, waits, in last anal- ysis, upon spiritual advance, increase in moral good. Let us recapitulate. We have seen that the com- petitive system of industry is fast giving away to one of combination; that this is not due in any extent to legislation, but springs out of the stringent social laws; that solidarity in industry often exists when it does not appear; that such solidarity is not a transi- tory phenomenon, but destined to be permanent; that this monopolistic form of industrial organization has in it the power to work society great evil; that it often produces ill consequences without appearing to do so; that there is indeed hope after all of its bring- ing to society immense net advantages; but that no such happy result can come save on the condition of men's moral improvement — E. Benj. Andrews (Brown University), in the International Journal of Ethics. 406 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT How They Check Useless Litigation in Norway. BOARDS OF CONCILIATION. Throughout the whole country there are estab- lished — in every town and parish — boards of concili- ation, with; the view of arranging disputes between parties out of court Every proposing litigant must, as a preliminary step, present his case to the local board of conciliation to whose jurisdiction it belongs, and obtain the board's certificate that the case has been dealt with unavailingly by the board of condlv ation. to bringr about an amicable settlement between the parties to it, before the case can be prosecuted further in the courts of justice. If a defendant re- fuses to appear before the board of conciliation in answer to its summons, without lawful excuse^ the board certifies the ffeict and the plaintiff has then free access to prosecute his case in the courts of justice; but in such a case the defendant has to pay all the plaintiflPs law costs in the court of first instance, no matter what its judgment on the merits may be. That circumstance effectually secures the attendance of a defendant before the board of conciliation when summoned. The intervention of the local boards of concUi- ation does as a matter of fact nip up the great bulk of possible litigation in the bud. According to the lat- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 407 est statistics on tlie subject at present available — ^for 1888 — ^the boards of conciliation succeeded in amica- bly arranging out of court about 88 per cent, of the cases brought before them, leaving thus only about 12 per cent, to be pi-osecuted in the courts of justice. In 1888 the total number of cases brought before the boards of conciliation was 103,969. Of these 83,315 cases were either withdrawn, conciliated or refused certificate of access to the court of justice; 69,573 cases were small debt cases; 7,886 cases were cases in which the principal claim made was admitted to be correct by the defendant in its material points, and the board of conciliation exercised in them, at the plaintifiPs special request alone, its right in undis- puted cases to impose a judgment on the defendant; 171 cases were under continuation at the close of the year; and only 12,957 cases were certified for prose- cution in the courts of justice. Broadly speaking, it may be said that every case that arises — except criminal cases, the subject of public prosecution^ — must be presented, in the first instance, to the local board of conciliation. The plaintiflf and defendant must appear in i)erson before the board of conciliation, unless lawfully excused, in which case they may appear by a deputy who must be provided with a written mandate authorizing him to bind his principal to any settlement of the disputes that may be arrived at. Practicing solicitors, or any one in their employment, are disqualified from acting as deputy or appearing for another before the boards of conciliation, except in the special case of being the mandatory of a foreigner residing out of Norway. The expense of submitting a case to the board of conciliation is a perfect trifle. The costs are 10 l-2d. fee for the summons to defendant to appear before the board, a court fee of 10 l-2d, payable by the plaintiflf when the case is heard, to which is added a second court fee of 10 l-2d, payable by the defendant in the event of an amicable settlement of the dispute being 408 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT arrived at by the board^s conciliating officee. Of course the terms of a settlement may include a dif- ferent distribution of these fees. Tlie 88 per cent of the cases referred to above were therefore amicably and finally arranged out of court by the intervention of the boards of condliation. and settled speedily without any litigation whatever, at an expense of 2s. 7 l-2d. each caBe. Solicitors appear on the scene after (not before) the boards of conciliation have dealt witii the case. Until then they are entirely muzzled. The existence of the touting solicitor, or of a solicitor who takes up a case on speculation, is made impossible; and, further, a defendant is efficiently protected from a plaintiff who speculates on worrying him into a pay- ment to compromise or setUe a trumpery or trumped- up claim. Even the small fees stated above are only charge- able to people to whom it would be no hardship to pay them. A poor plaintiff or defendant to whom it would be a hardship to pay the fees, small aB they are, is entitied to all the benefits of the intervention of the boards of conciliation without any charge whatever. The millionaire and the pauper stand on exactiy the same terms as far as the merits of the case submitted are concerned; the millionaire has his wealth recog- nized in the matter of payment of the fees, and the pauper has his poverty recognized in the same man- ner by being charged no fees. The millionaire must stand or faU on the merits of his case there, before the board of conciliation, without any assistance from< solicitors skilled in the cunning of law craft The general expenses of the boards of concilia- tion are paid out of the county rates and the fees collected go into the commissioners' own pockets, oth- erwise the position of a commissioner of a board of conciliation is an honorary one. The boards of conciliation have, strictly speaking, not a judicial function, and cannot compel a plaintilf or defendant to accept their view of the merits of a BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 409 case presented ta them; but ia a special and large class of cases, such as small debts, where the princi- pal sum is admittedly due and where dispute^ if any, is confined to side issues, such as rate of interest on the debt, terms of payment, etc., the boards may, in cases not exceeding 500 kroner in value (about £28), arbitrate on the issues in dispute, on the plaintifFs special demand to do alone, and impose on the defend- ant an interim judgment, which becomes absolute unless immediately appealed to the judge of the court of first instance. With the consent of both parties to a case, the boards may act as arbitrators; as such, assume a judicial function. In such a case, the board's judgment is final, and is unappealable, except on a technical ground. An ordinary case that has been amicably arranged before the board of concilia- tion is also finally settled with all the effect of a judgment as soon as the terms of the settlement are entered in the board's minute-book, and subscribed by the parties, the commissioners acting as witnesses. Such a settlement is absolute and unappealable. Every town has its board of conciliation, and every parish throughout the country has its local board, and if of very great extent, may have more than one, as the law under which the boards exist provides that as a rule no man shall be compelled to travel more than about twenty-eight English miles to reach his local board of conciliatioiL The boards meet for the disposal of cases once a week in towns and once a month in rural districts. They sit f/^ die in diem until all cases in which summonses have been issued have been called and heard, finally disposed of or continued for a stated reason accepted by the board as good and sufficient, but only with consent of both parties; and a case can only be continued once, and must be finally disposed of at the board's next meeting. The boards of conciliation consist of two com- missioners, who are elected by popular vote. Solicit tors are ineligible. The commissioners are always 4IO FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT gentlemen of undoubted probity and the highest local standing. They are nominated for election by the municipal council in towns and by the jxarish boards in rural districts. The localization of the boards, the mode of appointment and intimate local knowledge of the commissioners secures that, as a general rule, the commissioners have some personal acquaintance or knowledge of the parties who appear before them with their disputes — ^their private characters and drcumstances — ^a knowledge which is invaluable in promoting successful efforts of conciliation. The commissioners are elected to serve for three years. All cases brought before the boards of concilia- tion are heard in the strictest privacy, no others than the plaintiff and defendant being aidmitted to the pre- sence of the commissioners. Having to appear in person, it very frequently happens that a plaintiff and defendant, when brought face to face ,with each other in the ante-room, while in attendance waiting for their case to be called, come to a settlement at the last moment between themselves, so that, when called before the commissioners, all that remains for these gentlemen to do is to bind the parties to the terms of the settlement by a signed entry in the board's min- ute-book. Besides the simplicity and costlessness of the proceeding before the boards of conciliation, there is also great speed in arriving at a settlement or in getting a case certified for prosecution in the courts of justice. A summons to appear before the board of conciliation need only have one clear day to run in towns, and four clear days in a rural district, before it must be answered, and when the case is called it must be disposed of, unless adjourned with the consent of both parties, and it can only be adjourned once, for a special stated reason, approved of by the commissioners and only till the board's next meeting. It must then be finally disposed of and be amicably arranged, dismissed or certified as competent for pro- ceedings in the courts of justice. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 4 II The adyantage of boards of conciliatioii' is so well understood and appreciated in Norway that it is a very common thing for the banks, in certain classes of their transactions, or when people generally enter into a contract of any kind, that they insert an article into their contracts providing that, in the event of dis- putes arising, the parties to the contract bind them- selves to accept and abide by the judgment of the local board of conciliation, the commissioners being in that case empowered to act as arbitrators, and their judgment as arbitrators acquires all the force of the judgment of a court of justice and is unapi>eal- able except on a technical ground. — ^National Obser- ver. 412 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT A Year's Trial of the Eijajht-Hour Day in England. An experimental trial of the eight-hours day was twelve months ago undertaken by Messrs. Mather and Piatt, at the Salford Ironworks. Mr. William Mather, M. P., is about to issue a report on the trial year. It is exceedingly interesting to learn that the experiment has been entirely successful, and Mr. Mather in his statement expresses the hope that the employers in the engineering and machine- making trades will give the ascertained results the fullest consideration, with the view of making the forty-eight-hours week universal throughout the in- dustry. CONDITIONS OF THE EXPERIMENT. The introduction sets forth the conditions un- der which the experiment was tried. The same wages were to be paid for the forty-eight-hours week as for the flfty-three-hours week, and the desire was to arrive at conclusions tru8twort:hy on the pari; of all, whether employers or employed, who are en- gaged in the engineering and machine-making trades of the country as to the soundness or other- wise of such a step. The issue to be determined was whether the widespread desire for shori:er hours BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. ^ 413 might be met without danger to the mechanical trades, or whether it must be resisted in the inter- ests of all concerned. To arrive at conclusions of universal applica- tion from such a trial, Mr, Mather says, it was nec- essary that the conditions should be such as actu- ally exist in the great majority of manufacturiing concerns in the United Kingdom. It was also nec- essary that the trial should be made at a works of such capacity as would exclude the possibility of specially-selected men being employed. The full complement of men at the Salford Ironworks is 1,200, though the actual number employed at any given date necessarily varies according to the state of trade. The trades represented at the works are patternmakers, moulders (iron and brass), smiths, coppersmiths and tin-plate workers, engine-fitters, millwrights, electrical mechanics, turners and fit- ters, brass-finishers, boiler-makers, planers, drillers, borers, machine-tool men, and laborers. The char- acter of the work turned out during the year of trial was similar to that of the preceding six years — namely, general engineering work, in which are comprised engines, pumping machinery, boiler- work, etc., machinery used in the textile trades (oth- er than spinning and weaving) for the bleaching, printing and finishing of cotton, linen, silk, and other fabrics; electrical machinery of every variety, for lighting, transmission of power, electric trac- tion, electro-depositing, electro-chemical processes, etc. The year's trial was made during a period of general trade depression; but, fortunately for the purpose in view, though the prices obtained for the output of the concern were lower in the aggregate than were ever reached before, the total invoice value of the orders executed during the year amounted to the average value of the six preceding years. This was an unfavorable state of things for 414 . FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT the success of the new system, because, with five hours less of work per week, without a reduction of wages, and with the prices for machinery lower than in any preceding year, it was to be expected that the ratio of labor-cost to selling-price would be ab- normally high. All the productions of the works are subject to the keenest competition both in the home and in foreign markets. No monopolies of any kind have been included in the year's trial, and the royalties included in the prices of special inven- tions have been deducted in all cases, and only the prices of the machine itself have been taken for the purpose of the comparison. Every element which might render the experiment doubtful as to its gen- eral application as a test for the whole engineeriing and machine-making trade has been eliminated. About one-third of the men employed are on piece- work wages, and the x>iecework system has received a thorough representation in the trial, as well as the fixed- weekly-wage system. No overtime what- ever was worked, except for breakdowns and re- pairs. Extra men were employed on the double- shift plan to meet extra pressure of work. The only preparation made to give the trial "a fair field and no favor," was an earnest appeal to the foremen in the various departments to exercise forethought and vigilance steadily through the year in forward- ing the work from process to process, to furnish ma- terials well in advance, and to provide such simple facilities and workshop conveniencies (not new tools) as might be suggested by the men, especially the piecework men, from time to time. Such facili- ties, however, have not amounted to an appreciable sum, though they may have been very helpful to the men. Every employer would be only too glad at all times to receive such suggestions, and adopt them. An essential detail was that the accounts of cost and production should be kept with scientific pre- cision and care. A very competent engineer's ac- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 415 countant was deputed to undertake this important task, and Mr. Mather vouches for the absolute cor- rectness and trustworthiness of the results recorded in the report. An important feature of the trial was that it was formally arranged with the chief oflBcials of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, the great trade-union of the engineering and ma- chine-making trades of the United Kingdom. RESULTS. The statement of the results may usefully be quoted in full: Wages-cost — The figures we have taken as the standard with which to compare results are the av- erages per year of the preceding six years, during the earlier portion of which the number of hours worked per week was fifty-four, and fifty-three hours per week during the later portion. The pro- duction during the two periods has been similar in character, and the turnover in the trial year has approximated to the average of the six years so closely as to be practically the same. As regards quantity of production, there was actually a larger output in the trial year; but, owing to the prices in that year being considerably lower than in the six preceding years, the turnover did not increase with the amount of production. The fact must be borne in mind in studying the following statement as to the cost of wages: On making up the books we found that, comparing the ratio of wages to turn- over in the trial year with the ratio of wages to turn- over in the six preceding years, there was an in- crease of 0.4 per cent, in the former. But as in the trial year selling-prices were considerably lower, the actual quantity produced, as represented by the equal turnover of that year, was considerably larger than in the six preceding years; therefore the ratio of the cost of wages to the turnover in that year must have been proportionately less. Had prices 4l6 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT ruled the same the turnover in the trial year would have been greater, and the wages-cost, instead of showing an increase of 0.4 per cent., would have shown a decided decrease. We have given no credit for this fact to the side of the trial year, but show the actual result as given on the comparison we have instituted — ^viz., an increase of 0.4 per cent in the ratio of the wages-cost to the turnover. This,' however, does not exhaust the changes made by the reduction of the hours. We have had to discover what other advantages and disadvantages have arisen from it The question of saving in consuma- bles on the one hand, and the greater load of fixed charges on the other, have been the subject of close investigation. We have found a marked economy in gas and electric lighting, wear-and-tear of ma- chinery, engines, gearing, etc., fuel and lubricants, and miscellaneous stores. On the other hand, we have examined the increased fixed charges due to in- terest of plant and machinery, rent and taxes, per- manent staff on fixed salaries, being employed five hours less per week. The balance of debtor and creditor account on these expenses is unmistakably io favor of the trial year. The credit from these items to be carried to the trial year is an amount equal to 0.4 per cent, on the net amount of the year's turnover. Thus, by a remarkable coincidence, a saving of 0.4 per cent, is secured as a direct conse- quence of the shorter hours, which counterbalances the debit of 0.4 per cent, in the increased wages-cost Lost Time. — ^The improvement in respect of lost time is very marked. The proportion of "time lost without leave'' to the total time worked averaged in the fifty-three-hours period 2.46 per cent., whereas in the forty-eight-hoiirs period it is only 0.46 per cent. The lost time, of course, represents a serious diminution in the year's production, and a propor- tionate loss on the fixed charges of the concern. There are also other losses resulting from time lost BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 417 For instance, when a man is one of a "gang'' his ab- sence unexpectedly causes all his mates to lose more or less time in starting, and there is a general tem- I)orary dislocation of the work with which he is con- nected. It is probably not too much to assume that this resulting lost time — ^for which an employer has to pay — ^is at least equal to the time lost by the man himself. Whatever saving or benefit there may be under this head is latent No account is taken of it in the figures worked out There can be no doubt, however, that it has had an important effect on the general result Piecework. — Piecework from the first has been a matter of considerable interest. It was at the outset — ^perhaps naturally — assumed that men on piecework were already doing their best, and if their period of work were shortened their earnings would be diminished in a corresponding degree. This an- ticipation has not been realized, for, although there is a falling-off in the percentage earned by piece- workers over and above Avhat they would have re- ceived as day-wages, it is slight in comparison with the reduction in the time and particularly so in the latter jwrtion of the year. In order to judge bet- ter of the working-out of the system as regards piecework, the year has been divided into three parts of approximately equal lengths. In the first period the surplus over daywork rates was 1.76 per cent less than the standard piecework wages; the the second period, 1.58 per cent, less thau the stand- ard piecework wages; in the third period, 0.78 per cent less than the standard piecework wages; the average for the twelve months coming out 1.41 per cent less than the standard. These figures show that as the year advanced there was a steady adap- tation to the altered conditions, and it is reasonable to expect that the small difference remaining at the end of the year will soon disappear. It must also be noted that in no single instance during the year 14 4l8 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT were piecework rates advanced. In fact, some re- ductions were made — ^in a few special cases where the rates were admitedly too high. Had these few changes not been made the difference between the two periods would have been 0.5 per cent only, in- stead of 1.41 per cent., a difference which is not at all unusual between two years, as slight fluctuations in piecework earnings have occurred from one year to another under the old system. The chief points of interest arising out of the comparison made between the two periods for wages-cost of work produced may be thus epito- mized: In fiivor of A «•!«•♦ Per Cent. Per Cent Compftriflon of wages to tttmorer, made sim- ply on the net value of production, and the wages thereupon o^ Balance of account for wear and tear, fuel, etc., as against increased cost per hour worked for fixed charges, which must be credited to wages account 0.4 Proportion of lost time to total time 2 Difference in the amount of piecework pro- duction, as shown by piecework balances in three periods of the year- First period 1.76 Second period 1.58 Third period 0.78 Difiference of pieceworkers' earnings after equalizing prices for fieiir comparison with preceding years for the whole trial year 0.5 It will be clear from these figures that the wages-cost of production in the forty-eight-hours system remains the same as it was under the fifty- three-hours system, when the new system is credited with the saving in consumables, wear-and-tear, fud, etc., which is the direct consequence of the change without diminishing the output of the works. The pieceworkers have lost slightly on the year, but the later months show this loss to be a vanishing quan- tity. A curious fact is illustrated by the piecework- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 419 ers* statistics. The diminution in their total wages means a proportionately less production in actual work turned out by them. But, as the total output of the works during the trial year was greater than that of the previous years, the diminution in the pro- duction of the pieceworkers must have been more than compensated for by extra production on the part of the day- workers. COMMENT ON THE RESULTS— A(TION OF THE TRADE. Dealing generally with the results above de- scribed, Mr. Mather remarks: "The Amalgamated Society of Engineers and kindred trade unions have acted with prudence and patience, as they pledged themselves to do, during the yeai^s trial we have made. They are entitled now to raise the question for general consideration, and to recommend the universal adoption of the sys- tem we have proved to be safe as regards the inter- ests of employers, and beneficial to the workmen. It is twice blessed: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. The cry for legislation to settle the conflict between the natural and laudable aspirations of working- men and the fears and doubts of employers is a dan- ger to the whole field of industry. "Mutual responsibility and mutual benefits can only be secured by mutual arrangements. A rigid law passed by members of an Imperial legislature, whose votes are often given haphazard, or for party reasons, or for *a safe seat,' can never provide a rem- edy for such conflicts as those which arise in the industrial world in connection with the complex questions of wages and hours of labor. There are, of course, simple questions of protecting some work- people in dangerous employments or unhealthy oc- cupations which may require the state to assume 420 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT the responsibility of prescribing the limit of hours I)er day during which adult men may be exposed to such conditions. But the great manufacturing in- dustries of the country, as a whole, if they are to be- come secure and prosperous, must be conducted by arrangements mutually planned and carried out by the trade-unions and the employers, and any legisla- tion which would promote and strengthen such ar- rangements would be wise and may be necessary. *TPhe workpeople of the great engineering and machine-making trades have a splendid organiza- tion. I feel sure its prudence and sagacity will be shown in dealing with the aspirations of its mem- bers to bring about a universal forty-eight-hours week in such a manner as to avoid friction with the employers. We have now an opportunity of show- ing the workpeople and employers in other indus- tries how beneficial chamges may be made by mu- tual arrangements instead of by rigid legal enact- ments. "It is a notable and significant fact that a great trade-union has, in the midst of the general agita- tion for shorter hours, calmly and patiently waited for the result of a crucial trial, the making of which it encouraged, before giving the slightest sanction to any appeal being made to employers generally. Surely such a mode of dealing with this imiK>rtant question can be universally adopted in all trades. The peculiarities of each can thus be specially met, while the continuity of industrial development and success is secured. "There is no doubt that the results obtained at the Salford Ironworks, together with those at other places, demonstrate that the two morning hours be- fore breakfast are not worth the pains and trouble they cost, whether to workpeople or to employers. The effect on the workpeople must be most damag- ing both physically and morally; otherwise we can- not account for the remarkable and indisputable BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 42 1 fact that when these hours were struck oflf as much work was performed all the year round as when these hours were employed. Not only are these two hours before breakfast almost worthless as time> but their effect on the physical and mental condition of the men is to depreciate the vigor, freshness, and brightness which ought to prevail throughout the working-day if the best results are to be obtained. "My observations, and the careful supervision of our foremen (whose opinions on the experiment are given in a summarized form in the appendix), have not detected that our workpeople have con- sciously made anything like *a spurt' in the trial year, hoping thereby to gain a permanent reduction of hours, with the intention of easing off afterwards, as some have thought would be the case. A year is a long period to keep up *a spurt' It would, in fact, be impossible to sustain a conspiracy of en- deavor so long if any strain accompanied it. "I attribute the full maintenance of our produc- tion through the trial year solely to the unimpaired and cheerful energy on the part of every man and boy throughout the day. We seem to have been working in harmony with a natural law, instead of against it, as in the unnatural conditions of men be- ginning the work of the day without the provision required by nature for the proper exercise of their mental faculties and physical powers. "The changed home life must also count for something. Every man can now associate with his family before leaving for the day, and the breakfast table may give him a good *send-oflP in a cheery spirit, which he maintains in all he does. "The total abolition of overtime, excepting in the rarest cases, is essential to the success of the shorter hours, if my conclusions as to the cause of increased production be correct. This custom is a delusion on the part of workpeople and employers alike. The extra wages are obtained by the men at 422 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT too great a cost The extra work is not worth to the employers the price they pay for it. The double- shift system, which the trade-unions have readily approved, has, on the other hand, many advantages in cases of exceptional pressure. Employment is afforded thereby to more men, and the work they do is not charged at an abnormal rate. It would doubtless be difficult to obtain sufficient men for a double shift in times of great prosperity; and as a permanent system of working it is, of course, impos- sible. It will simply meet certain emergencies. The true means for larger production is increased pro- ducing power in men and machinery. But of this I am assured, that the most economical production is obtained by employing men only so long as they are at their best. When this stage is passed there is no true economy in their continued work. Our yearns trial has convinced us that we have found the Tiappy medium^ in the number of hours during which only one meal and one stoppage are needed, and this resolves itself into the eight-hour day or forty-eight-hours week.'^ BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 423 Baron Hirsch's Colonization Scheme- Reports have been received from Mr. Gastrell, her majesty's consul at Buenos Ayres, on the subject of Baron Hirsch's colonization scheme. The first purchases of land were made in 1891. Nine square leagues were acquired for the colony of Mauhico, in the province of Buenos Ayres, and four and a half square leagues for Moisesville (the name is open to criticism), in Santa Fe. Three more colonies were afterwards founded^ and at the present time the as- sociation possesses sixty-three square leagues of land, most of which is situated in the fertile prov- ince of Entre Rios. The land has cost them about £220,000, out of the total expenditure to date of twice that sum, and only about one-third of this property has yet been colonized. Batches of colo- nists have been arriving since June, 1891, ^nd the total number now settled is estimated at about 6,300 — mostly from Southern Russia. The rumors which reached England of the ill-success of the scheme were, no doubt, due to the fact that a large number of useless ne'er-do-weels had managed to get themselves included among the first arrivals. These men had to be got rid of, and their return to Europe would, of course, tend to produce the im- pression that the enterprise was a failure. But the greatest care has since been exercised in the choice of colonists. The Russian government has adopted 424 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT a benevolent attitude towards the undertaking, and there is a central committee at St Petersburg, with branches all over Russia, whose business it is to se- lect the most deserving Jews as emigrants. The as- sociation gives to each family — ^families of about seven persons, including children, are found to suc- ceed best — some 190 acres of land, eight or twelve oxen, two plows, harrows, and a house and food un- til the crops are harvested; after which the colonists have to support themselves. The latter certainly cannot complain of ungenerous treatment. In 1893 the association handed over to them three-quarters of the whole crop — ^an unusually abundant one. The land eventually becomes the property of the colo* nist, but until his debt is paid oflf a payment of "only so much as each family or individual can afford** is required of him by the association after each har- vest. The assessment of this amount must be one of the most difficult of the duties falling upon the "resident collectors** appointed to each colony. These duties are of various kinds. Besides super- vising the harvesting, and determining what yearly payments must be made by each colonist in part settlement of his indebtedness, they have to "look after the property of the association, to distribute the food supplies to each farm, to act as the legal representatives of the association in all dealings with the local authorities and private persons, and, later on, to collect the debts due by the colonists to the association.** Baron Hirsch seems to have been very successful in the choice of agents, and the suc- cess of the undertaking must be to a great extent due to their tact and energy. The colonies are man- aged generally by a director and his staff. Under them is a carefully-organized system of local self- government. Each colony has its council, the mem- bers of which are in part api>ointed by the associa- tion — the "controller** is, of course, a member — ^and in part selected by the immigrants themselves. The BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 425 council regulates all matters connected with the dis- tribution of machines^ transi>orts, building, public healthy etc,, and **detennines the work that each col- onist has to i>erfomi." All this reads like the gov- emment of one of the ideal republics so often dreamed o^ and so impossible to carry out in prac- tice. Not only is it carried out, however, but the colonies seem to be in a fair way to become paying concerns. A return of at least 7 per cent was con- fidently expected from the wheat crop of 1893. No fewer than 17,240 acres are under wheat, and this — calculated on the basis of the previous season's prices, which were exceptionally low — ^represents a value of £30,000, a return of 7 per cent on the capi- tal so far invested. When it is remembered that with few exceptions these Jews are drawn exclu- sively from towns, and have to be taught the rudi- ments of agriculture on their arrival, the success of the scheme becomes the more surprising. Perhaps it is too early as yet to regard this success as com- plete, for the oldest of the colonies was only founded about three years ago. But it is at any rate certain that out of the most unpromising materials Baron Hirsch and his associates have succeeded in creat- ing a very promising body of colonists, and have so far done something towards the solution of one of the most difficult problems of the present day — what to do with the surplus Jewish population of Russia without disorganizing the labor market of the world. 426 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT State Farms. From the Report of the Department of Labo]>— New Zealand. The Hon. Mr. J. McKenzie, minister of lands^ has successfully initiated a system of paying parties of working men to fell bush on crown lands, giving to these men the option of choice of lands so felled and cleared. In several places, as at Pemberton and Chasland's river, the scheme is working well, and small thriving communities have been established. They are already asking for school houses to be erected, and showing other signs of permanent occu- pancy. The system at first adopted was to fell and clear bush on several parts of the future settlement^ and then allow the men working thereon to ballot for the sections. This was found to be unsatisfactory^ as the ballot sometimes resulted in giving a man a piece of land to which he had taken a dislike, or which was unsuitable to the conditions and number of his family. The later system adopted is to have the land roughly surveyed into sections of from 100 to 500 acres, the lots being shown by short side-lines start- ing from the frontage of roads already surveyed and definitely fixed. Each man, knowing approximately the position of his boundaries, can go on clearing for himself until the permanent boundaries are marked off. The acreage is not rigidly kept to round num- bers, but is fixed so as to suit, as far as possible, the needs and wishes of the occupier. BUREAU OF I.ABOR STATISTICS. 427 A state farm proper of about 1,000 acres has been commenced at Levin, on the Manawatu railway- line, Wellington provincial district Fiftj-two men, eight women, and twenty-five children are on the ground, the men doing the preparatory work, cutting roads through the forest, felling bush for burning, planting orchards, etc., getting ready for the perma- nent homestead to be laid out. Another farm, to the south of Dunediiu has been selected and marked off, but it is as yet in its infancy. The men employed on the state farm (and to be employed) are engaged on the co-operative system, and are not paid wages ex- cept in rare cases, where contract is inadmissible. The workers generally are elderlv men, drafted off as to a depot, wh^re their services can be utilized until suitable work for them can be found, if desira- ble. The manner in which the work is contracted for is as follows: The manager names a price per chain for some fencing, and some half-dozen men group themselves and take it by contract at that price. Again, if the manager requires an acre of land dug over with the spade, or firewood cut and stacked, or drains dug, for any of these things he names his price, and the workers accept it if content As the manager learns by exi)erience the working abilities of the men, and is instructed to offer them a price which will insure an equivalent to a fair wage if worked at steadily, the men generally accept Of course, continual refusal to accept work at a fair price would necessitate the removal of the discon- tented person from the farm. The families on the farm, if arriving destitute, are provided with tents, etc., by the government They will not have to pay any rent, but have to erect cottages for themselves with some small state concessions as to timber ob- tained on the spot. Each family has a half-acre al- lotted to its occupation for garden and domestic pur- poses. On a family leaving the farm an allowance 428 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT will be made for improvements made under the scp- proval of the manager. This institution is by no means at present a self-governing experiment in any way. Those who wish to form such societies must do so in their own manner by means of special set- tlements, etc.; but the state farm is directed by an able agriculturist as manager, who is appointed by the government, and who has all the powers of an or- dinary employer in arranging the details of his work, subject to his responsibility to the department of labor, and in consonance with the co-oi)erative sys- tem. It is the intention of the government, when, af- ter some years, the farm has been cleared of bush and brought under skilled cultivation, to make its work- ing purely co-operative. By that time sufficient knowledge will have been gained as to the character of the men and their families to act as a guide in de- termining who are to be the permanent residents. The idle and incapable will have been weeded out, and it will be possible, doubtless, to allow the farm to be worked for their own profit by a committee or council of those who have been employed for a long period. In the meantime, it is to be hoped that other farms in the rough state can be acquired and brought into good order on the same system. They would prove of service not only as outlets for the relief of the temporary congestion of the labor market, but for the permanent settlement of families to whom town life offers neither livelihood nor inducement. There is every probability that the state farm will become a paying investment on the capital ex- pended, as well as an outlet for a description of la- bor — ^viz., that of elderly men — ^which cannot find oc- cupation elsewhere in times of pressure, but which has deserved well of the colony by previous long and hard service. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, 429 England's Labor Commission. To inquire into the causes for the impoverish- ment of the workers, and to suggest remedies there- for. The Minority Report, signed by Mr. Michael Austin, M. P., Mr. Mawdsley, Mr. Tom Mann and Mr. W, Abraham, M. P., reads as follows: "Probably two millions are every year driven to accept poor-law relief in one form or another. In London, the wealthiest and most productive city in the world, we learn from Mr. Charles Booth's re- searches that 32 per cent, of the total population falls below the ^poverty line' — the guinea per week of reg- ular earnings, below which no family can live in decency and health. And when we And that in cer- tain districts of the metropolis one-half and even three-fifths of the entire population fall below that minimum, and that this state of things arises from no exceptional distress, but represents the outcome of fifty years of steady improvement, we cannot but regard the situation as calling for the gravest con- sideration of the government. Nor is this destitu- tion confined to unskilled or specially degraded classes of workers. Even in those grades in which labor is better paid, the statistics of the labor de- partment show a large number of competent work- ers are at all times out of employment, whilst in periods of trade depression many thousands of men are in the same condition.'' 430 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT The minority demand the abolition of sweating, the adoption of the eight-hours day at once in all government departments, an immediate eight-hours law for miners and textile workers and a provisional scheme for extending eight hours to other trades in the following manner: **We recommend that an eight-hours act should be passed laying down the principle of a maximum working day, and authorizing its application to par- ticular industries after due inquiry, by orders sim- ilar either to those made under the factory and work- shop acts, or to the provisional orders laid before Parliament on other subjects. Under such an act the home secretary, pending the creation of a minis- ter for labor, might be empowered to direct inquiry to be made into the hours of labor of an industry when called upon to do so by a resolution of either house of parliament, or any town or county council, or by the trades council of any town in which industry was carried on, or by any registered trades union or em- ployers* association in the trade concerned." An extensive reform of the system of factory in- spection and the creation of a special minister of labor are suggested, with many other reforms. The conclusions of the minority are summed up in this forcible passage, with which we conclude: "To sum up, we regard the unsatisfactory rela- tions between employers and employed as but one in- evitable incident of the present industrial anarchy. The only complete solution of the problem is, in our opinion, to be found in the progress of the industrial evolution which will assign to the 'captains of in- dustry,' as well as to the manual workers, their proper position as servants of the community. Mean- while, the relations between capitalists and manual workers are enormously embittered by the demoral- izing conditions in which great masses of the popu- lation are compelled to live. Under any conceivable view of social development, these conditions demand the serious attention of the government and con- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 43I stitute, in our opinion, the most pressing of all the problems of statesmanship. The evil influence of the ^sweated trades/ the demoralizing irregularity of employment, the insanitary condition both of the work-places and the homes of large sections of the community, the inadequate wages obtained in all the less skilled grades of workers, the excessive hours of labor which prevail throughout so large a part of the industrial field, all call for immediate action. ''We think it high time that the whole strength and influence of the collective organization of the community should be deliberately, patiently and per- sistently used to raise the standard of life of its weaker and most oppressed members. We regard this as one of the primary functions of democratic government, whether national or local, and while leaving on one side, as beyond our scope, such funda- mental matters as tiie nationalization of the land and the drastic taxation of unearned incomes, we have suggested in some detail various immediately practi- cable reforms in this direction. These reforms in- clude — "(a.) The explicit and widely advertised adop- tion by the government and all local authorities of direct public employment whenever this is advanta- geous, the eight-hours day, trade union conditions, and a moral minimum wage. "(b.) The extension of the factory and similar acts to all manual workers in all trades, and their drastic enforcement in such a way as to discourage home work, and absolutely to prohibit industrial op- pression. "(c.) The securing, by appropriate law, of an eight hour day for every manual worker. "(d.) The thorough investigation and bold ex- perimental treatment of the problem of the unem- ployed. 43^ FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT "(e.) The provision of adequate sanitary hous- ing accommodation for the whole nation, as well as honorable maintenance for all its workers in their old age. "In short, the whole force of democratic states- manship mnst^ in our opinion, henceforth be directed to the substitution as fast as possible of public for capitalist enterprise, and, where this substitution is not yet practicable, to the strict and detailed reg- uhition of all industrial operations, so as to secure to every worker the conditions of efficient citizeu- Rljip/'— Daily News, 1st May, 1894. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 433 The Philosophy of Mutualism. From an article in the Arena, by Prof. Frank ParBonSy on "The Philosophy of Mutualism/* we make the following extracts: It is clear, in the first place, that the social ideal must be co-oi)erative and not competitive. Love re- quires harmony. Competition involves antagonism —antagonism is its very essence. It is impossible for one to love his neighbor as himself so long as he has to fight with that neighbor for bread and butter. Nor does it stand the test of manhood any better. Competition does not even aim to produce noble man- hood. It utterly neglects the production of man- hood in its eager pursuit of merchandise. Its polit- ical economy does not know that manhood is the su- preme product of an industrial system; it does not know that manhood is the most imi>ortant factor even in the production of that material wealth about which it is so solicitous. The competitive system ex- pends the utmost possible care upon engines and dynamos and all its machinery of steel and brass, but on its human machinery, which contains whole worlds of undiscovered science and invention — the soul that vitalizes the steel and brass and determines their productivity — ^ui)on this no care at all is be- stowed. Manhood is made the slave of machinery instead of its master. Thousands of children, tens of thousands of men and women, spend their whole lives in feeding, cleaning, and ministering to these 434 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT great, dumb, beautiful monsters that have usurped the throne of our civilization in the interest of a few cunning men who contrive to keep the favor of the monarchs of the nineteenth century. Comi)etition necessarily evolves the character product appropriate to antagonism — ^hardness, cru- elty, cunning, injustice, oppressiveness, overbearing selfishness in the victors; fawning slavishness, cru- elty, deceitfulness, viciousness, abject selfishness in the victims. The tendency of competition is to undo all that religion, ethics, and law are trying to do for the ennoblement of man. • • • • • In round numbers there are to-day in this coun- try twenty millions of workers, including the women who put in long, serviceable days in our homes; and the total wealth product each year, in agriculture, manufactures, transportation and distribution, labor of doctors, lawyers, ministers, actors, domestics, etc., the total wealth product in goods and services, is about twenty billions each year, or f 1,000 per work- er. This is the new product due to the Jabor of the year — ^the net product after deducting repairs and materials. Now, one million workers are wholly idle, and wage-earners as a body are idle about one- tenth of the working days in a year, on an average, equivalent to nearly two million idle the whole year through, which, added to one million absolutely idle, makes idleness cost us three million times 11,000, or three billions a year. There are ten millions more, mostly women, who spend their time shopping and flirting, of whose capacities society does not avail itself. They would be happier if they had some- thing useful to do, and the world would gain another ten billions of service. Look again at the loss due to insufficient educa- tion of workers — ^physical, industrial, intellectual, and spiritual education ; the loss due to poverty and the poor food and low grade of life it frequently BUREAU OF I.ABOR STATISTICS- 435 brings; the loss due to non-interest in profits. We all ^ow how much energy it adds to a man if he owns the business or comes to be partner in it. When the Pillsbury Flour Mills of Minneapolis gave their men a share in the profits, the energy, care, and economy of the men so greatly increased, that, after subtracting the f40,000 of profit that went to the men (an average of f400 to a man, or 33 per cent, on their wages for the year), the imrt of the profits that went to the firm was more than the total profit it had by the old pure wage system. That was also the experience of the Le Clair shops in Paris, and it is always the case where profit-sharing or co-opera- tion is thoroughly tried under true conditions, as any one may see who will -consult W. P. Gilman's history of ^Trofit Sharing.'* The men work with more spirit and diligence. They do not stop the mo- ment the bell rings, nor wait for its stroke to begin; they economize; they take better care of materials; they do the best work they know how, for the firm's reputation is of moment to them. They watch each other; shirking and drunkenness become impossi- ble^ for the men say to each offender: *TLook here, you must stop; you are spoiling our profits;'' and drunk- enness ceases where sharing of profits is carried out Superintendence also becomes unneccessary; the men superintend themselves and each other. At a minimum estimate we lose half the power inherent in the wage-earning masses. If all were well fed, well educated to bring out their talent, ingenuity, and skiU, to perfect their character and keep them from bad habits and disease, comfortable, hoi)eful, happy partners in the business of the world, the effi- ciency of labor would be doubled at the least; so we lose twenty billions a year on this count. Pernicious activities: The saloon* takes one bill- ion of dollars a year from the people — a billion far worse than thrown into the sea — ^and the labor and •Anglice, publlchouse. 436 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT capital involved in the traffic, if pnt to real nse^ would add a good billion to the wealth of the coun- try instead of constituting a machine for subtracting a billion from that wealtii — ^a gain of two billions a year by destroying the saloon. Another two billions would be realized if gambling, lobbying and other fraudulent employments were abolished, and two billions more if the litigation, disease, and crime con- sequent on competition could be avoided. Look a moment at the item of useless activities: The drummer* system costs more than a billion a year; in a co-operative commonwealth it would not be required, and the labor and capital involved could be used for some iwsitive gain. In my native town there are twenty-five grocery stores for four or five thousand inhabitants, and, in Boston, a thousand groceries. Yet a single co-operative plant, with a good delivery system, a central depot, and a few sample rooms to exhibit new articles, or those that vary in character, would be able to do the whole work. Think of the saving, not only in selling but in purchasing, that would result from a co-operative system dispensing goods of a reliable quality at low and uniform prices. Look at the crowds of women who throng our streets going from store to store among the three hundred dry goods dealers of Bos- ton, hoping at each new place to find something more to their taste in quality or price, and ending, per- haps, as the old couplet has it: A spool of silk and a hank of thread, Eight hours, ten cents and a dame half dead. Men wepre found in the sweat shops of New York working sixteen hours a day for eighty-nine cents a week and board — ^real board, with scarcely anything on it to obscure their view of it. Many a man ^ets less than |1 a day, while Vanderbilt^s cook gets |10,- •Anglice, commercial traveller. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 437 000 a year, and Wannamaker's advertising agent left the ministry to become a writer of puffs, and re- ceives more for his work than the noblest preacher in Boston is paid. An actress comes over the water, presents some demoralizing dramas, and takes $50,- 000 profit in one week from our city. A pu^list makes f 50,000 in a single evening; a lawyer receives 1100,000 in one fee for a case he ought to be ashamed to have anything to do with; a railroad gambler (ac- cording to the New York dailies) clears thirty mill- ions in a year; and a college president is given two or three thousand a year — ^which illustrates the rela- tive value our civilization places on education, as compared with gambling and pugilism. • • • • • Daniel Webster said: "The freest government cannot long endure where the tendency of the law is to create a rapid accumulation of property in the hands of the few.*' Henry Ward Beecher said, in 1881, that five or ten men controlling ten thousand miles of railroad and billions of property would have their hands on the throat of commerce, and "if they should need to have a man in sympathy with them in the executive chair, it would only require five pock- ets to put him there.*' With keen prophetic vision, Lincoln said, at the close of the war: ^It has been indeed a trying hour for the republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me, and causes me to tremble for the safety of our coun- try. As a result of the war corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people till all wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxious for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of the war,** • • • * • Let us briefly sum up the effects of the compet- itive system: 438 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT 1. It neutralizes industrial forces by brin^g them into opi)osition, instead of harnessing them all to industry's car in parallel lines. 2. It creates a feverish force in some men, not for the sake of useful labor, but for victory over their fellows, and it leaves the great mass of men wholly inert, to be driven by their necessities to reluctant labor. It misuses and wastes far more vigor than it creates, even inside the class who most feel its fever. It energizes a few in the race for wealth, more than is good for them or for society. In the rest it devital- izes the very nerve of energy by depriving them of all interest in their work. The total energy and pro- ductiveness of a co-operative group, well managed, is vastly greater than that of a competitive group. Reason says so, because interest is the most fruitful source of energy, and in a co-operative group every one is interested to make the product large, while in a competitive group only a few have any interest in the size of the product History says so, also, as any one may see who will examine the story of any well- handled co-operative or profit-sharing enterprise. 3. Competition puts a million in the pockets of an ignorant, idle dude, and loads his splendid indus- trious neighbor with misfortune and debt 4. Xt sets a delicate man to handling heavy bars of iron, or pounding stones on the streets in the boiling sun from early mom till dusk, with a ponder- ous mallet that even Goliath or Samson would hate to become too familiar with, while a strapping six- footer sits by in the shade, on the sidewalk, selling a handful of shoe-strings or a few quarts of peanuts as his day^s contribution to the world's work. 5. It makes despots and liars of many success- ful business men, and slaves of their betters. 6. It ruins the lives of millions with misery and want, and mars the lives of others with pride and luxury. BUREAU OF I.ABOR STATISTICS. 439 7. It builds the slums of the cities, and the hate-engendering palaces of the rich. 8. It has given us a standard of value and a division of labor that sacrifice manhood to merchan- dise. 9. It gives activity and growth to all that is hard, combative, unscrupulous, and unsympathetic in man, and hinders the development of brother-love, helpfulness, truthfulness, and public spirit. 10. It rewards injurious activities, and gives some of the highest prizes as a premium for some of the greatest wrongs, dishonesties, oppressions and injustices. 11. It is destructive of liberty and individual- ity, as well as of virtue and comfort; it ruins men, body and soul. 12. It condemns vast numbers of children to a birthright of misery, disease and sin. 13. It causes dissensions that break out into Buffalo strikes and Homestead strikes, which cost the public treasury half a million to quell, and the strikers and employers another half million in dam- age and loss. 14. It periodically disturbs the nation's indus- tries with flurries and panics. 15. It gives the keys of the world's wealth to Wall Street gamblers. 16. It wastes five-sixths of the industrial forces of the world with its planless production, panics, strikes, its inelastic and degrading wage system, that treats the laborer as a commodity and denies him the energy bom of an interest in his work and its profits, its insufficient care of education, and the innumerable conflicts and useless duplications which it occasions. 17. It has given us 4,000 millionaires and poly- millionaires, 100,000 anarchists, 200,000 prostitutes, 400,000 gamblers and liquor men, 100,000 engaged in 440 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT the opium and tobacco trade, 300,000 more criminals who are recognized by the law as such, and oyer 1^000,000 idlers and tramps — one-tenth of the na- tion's industrial force, utterly useless or worse than useless. 18. It has given us a distorted civilization, in which 1 per cent, of the people own more than three- fifths of the wealth, 5 per cent, are in chronic want, 6 per cent are pernicious or useless, 10 i)er cent, in- sufficiently nourished, 50 per cent unjustly treated, receiving less of power and wealth than is their due, and 90 per cent, insufficiently and improi)erly edu- cated. • 19. It puts wages down by its waste and its de- basement of the worker. 20. It prevents the survival of the fittest — ^those who are really best 21. It has created monopoly, and aids and abets its robberies. 22. It has given us a distribution of wealth, and an organized antagonism of labor and capital, that threatens the life of the republic. 23. It has given us a civilization in which the bad and disruptive elements are increasing five times as fast as the good and cohesive ones. Such are some of the charges that justice and kindness are preferring at the bar of human progress against the arch offender of our time. It is the most terrific indictment ever brought against any insti- tution in any age or country. Competition is the in- sanity of the past, the colossal crime of the present BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 44I Laundries in Great Britain. As there has been some grounds for complaint regarding sanitation and overwork in laundries in this city it may be well to read the opinions of those living where the evils are recognized. The Daily Chronicle says: "There are two rea- sons why laundries and wash houses ought to be brought under the factory acts: First, for the pro- tection of the washerwomen and the children who are employed; and, secondly, for the protection of the public.'* The special commissioner of the Lancet reported as follows: ^*We found one cottage in Kensal New Town where washing was taken in from thirty fam- ilies and where the washerwoman's son was ill with small-pox. In Blackfriars Road a woman took in the washing of a children's school and of several families while three of her sons had small-pox. In Bed- fordbury a woman occupying a single room had col- lected the linen from several neighbors to wash, though her children were sick from small-pox and lying on rags in her one single room. In a street of Peckham, occupied principally by laundresses, we found small-pox in thirty out of seventy houses." Anyone can perceive with the least reflection that a laundry in a bad sanitary state, or frequented by persons who are in close contact with infectious diseases, is certain to spread contagion and to scatter it over a larger area and with greater precision than 442 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT almost any other agency. Schools, hotels, restau- rants and private families send their linen out and they get it back clean — that is all that is known about it in the majority of cases. But what a pleas- ant reflection to think that the clean linen which you wear, the sheets on your bed, the napkin in the restaurant, may have the seeds of contagion wrapped in them, to think that your nicely ironed shirt may have been dried in a room — ^possibly your washer- woman's bedroom — where children lay ill with scar- let fever. And yet these risks are run every week, and not in London only. The laundry and wash house which ought to be most minutely and scrup- ulously inspected places, are practically not in- spected at all by the sanitary authorities; every cot- tage and cellar where a woman likes to take in wash- ing is licensed to spread contagion. And yet we wonder how it is that fever breaks out in such un- expected places, where, in the natural order of things, it has no right to appear at all. How comes it that, whilst in every other indus- try where women and children are employed, the hours of labor are regulated, night work is forbidden, machinery is fenced, meal hours and holidays are fixed and sanitary provisions are prescribed, laun- dresses are absolutely unprotected? Apparently the omission is due to a mere technicality. Mr. Asquith's intention of giving the washer- women the protection they so sorely need has been received as good tidings of great joy by the poor women who have been neglected or trifled with in the past. They were bitterly disappointed by their failure in 1891, when, in spite of all their efforts, meetings, Hyde Park demonstrations and deputa- tions, they found themselves left out in the cold. Mr. Asquith's action has made them feel that after all they are not to be outlawed for ever, whilst every other woman worker is protected. Cases have been brought to light frequently in which work goes on from an early hour in the morn- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 443 ing till 11 and 12 at night without any extra meal time. Sometimes the hands are kept washing through the whole of Friday night, after a long day's work, till midday on Saturday. Several of the fac- tory inspectors report that the laundries are fre- quently kept going all night, and the case of the poor woman who worked forty-two hours at a stretch is mentioned. These fearful hours are worked, it must be remembered, as a rule, under the most trying and unsanitary conditions. Go into an ordinary wash house where a few hands are employed and you will find the women standing at their tubs on an uneven floor, where the water collects in little pools; their clothes are pretty well saturated long before their work is over and their feet are wet through. They take their food sitting on an upturned basket in the midst of the reek and steam. When the gas is turned on at night these places, whether under- ground or above ground, become choking. The fumes of the chlorate of soda, whose devastating prop- erties most of us have cause to deplore, remind you of the alkali works, and give a sickening pungency to the damp and spongy composition of gas, steam and fetid air which the women have to breatlie. In the ironing room, where the drying is generally car- ried on as well, for economy of space, the tempera- ture ranges from seventy-five to 100 degrees, and there is no sort of provision for ventilation. The san- itary accommodation in the place I have visited was infamously bad. No wonder the poor creatures are crippled with rheumatism; that you find wards of the consumption hospitals crowded with them; no won- der they drink; no wonder their character goes some- times with the ruin of their health and spirits. In many of the steam laundries the sanitary conditions are better and the hours worked are not so excessive. But the quantity of rapidly moving machinery and the number of young girls employed, make their supervision quite as necessary as that of the smaller places. 444 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Addresses to the World's Labor Congress. Extracts from some of the speeches and papers delivered and read by members of the labor con- gress convened in Chicago, at the hall of Washing- ton Memorial Art Palace, Monday, August, 28, 1893. Miss Kate Field read a paper written by Lady Emilia Dilke, of London, entitled "The Industrial Position of Women in the Labor Market of the United Kingdom." Lady Dilke described the condition of the women workers in the hardware factories, which was sim- ply deplorable. Women were compelled to perform the same amount of work as men, yet they received much less pay. In some instances employers com- pelled women to work for them under threats that their husbands and brothers would be discharged. By this means employers obtain cheap labor. To show how employers discriminate against female labor in the matter of pay, Lady Dilke said that in a factory which formerly employed 1,000 men, 1,100 women now do all the work but receive over a third less wages than was paid the 1,000 men. The homes go to pieces and utter wretchedness results from this horrible state of affairs. The writer des- cribes the miserable condition of the match makers at Shoreditch and the sack makers at Dundee. The matches are made by women and children entirely, who are paid ridiculously low wages, and yet, said BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 445 Lady Dilke, the companies are making enormous profits. Tlie weavers of Yorkshire, although skilled laborers, are but little better oflf. The file makers of Sheffield, who include many women, all receive the same wages, but the women abuse the right and pro- tection afforded them by the trades unions by setting up sweat shops at home and employing juveniles to do the work. She briefly referred to the good work done by the trades unions, but does not believe that the labor problem can be solved on that line. * Herbert Burrows, of London, representing the English social democratic federation, corroborated Lady Dilke's statements. He told of the women who work twelve hours a day for $1.25 per week in the rail and chain forges of Cradleigh Heath, and there were many damp eyes in the hall when he said that they hung their cradles containing their babies over the forges to prevent their babies from freezing or starv- ing at home for want of care. He told of a strike among the match girls of London, in which he and Annie Besant championed their cause. He said that among the stockholders in the company employing the girls were over fifty clergymen of the Church of England. Mr. Burrows declared that the ministers refused to participate in an attempt to better the condition of the girls, because it would diminish their dividends. The defeat of the home rule bill in the house of lords practically verifies Mr. Burrows' state- ment respecting the attitude of the church in that country towards the laboring men. It is claimed of the twenty or more ministers holding seats in the house of lords, all voted to defeat the measure. Con- tinuing, Mr. Burrows said that "the sentiment in trades unionism in England is equal pay for women who do the same work as men, and we declare that the woman question must be settled in labor circles before the labor question can be satisfactorily set- tled.^' 446 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT Mrs. Helen Campbell, of New York, read an in- teresting paper on "Industrial Conditions of Women and Children." In part, she said: "It was the growing of the first bales of cotton on American soil and the beginning, in 1789, of the factory system for the United States, that women's active share in industries was first recognized. It was to the United States census for 1860 that we must look for the first really definite statements as to the occupations of women and children. The re- turns specified 285,000 women at work in manufac- tories, but stated that the figures were approximate merely. So far as could be ascertained in 1870, there were 1,838,288 women workers, 191,000 of whom were from ten to fifteen years of age. With war times and the throwing of countless women on their own resources, the rate of increase in women wage earners, between 1879 and 1889 was nineteen per cent, against an increase of men of only 6.97 per cent. In the census of 1880, the total number of women at work is given as 2,647,157." Mrs. Campbell told of the factory abuses in New England and New York state, showing that women and children sorely needed the bureaus which have been organized for their pro- tection. The labor bureau of Massachusetts shows that the average weekly earnings for the average time employed, 49.95 weeks is f 6.01, and the average weekly earnings for a whole year, f 4.91. The speaker gave a few examples of the condi- tion of women workers in the various states. Rich- mond, Va., gave the lowest wage, $3.86, and San Francisco the highest, |6.96, the average for all cities being $5.24. This was for skilled labor, the pay for unskilled falling far lower. Indiana made an evil showing. Shirts were made for from thirty to sixty cents per dozen. Labor Commissioner Peck states that starvation wages rule in Indiana for women. The shirt makers who compose a large share of the women workers, are worse off in California BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 447 than in any other state, excepting New York, re- ceiving, even when skilled working women, never over 12.87 a week. "Deliberate cruelty and injustice on the part of employers are encountered only now and then," said Mrs. Campbell, "but comi)etition forces the working in as inexpensive a manner as possible, and thus often makes what must stand as cruelty and in- justice necessary to the continued existence of the employer as an industrial factor." Home conditions are seldom beyond tolerable and more often intoler- able. "Inspection," she said, "is w^hat is needed." Mrs. Campbell painted a terrible picture of the tenement factories of New York. Women and girls there employed are packed like sardines in a box, without suflBcient light or ventilation. In bakeries the girls are obliged to stand ten to sixteen hours a day, and they break down after a short time. In the soap factories, type foundries, book binderies and brush manufactories, where women and girls are employed, conditions inimical to their health and comfort prevail, and it requires the most rigid in- spection by the labor bureau to keep their surround- ings at all endurable. She also found fault with the rule that clerks must always stand in stores, whether at work or not. Dr. McGlynn's remarks in part were as follows: It occurs to me that the labor question is the problem of human life here below. It means more than manual labor and wages. It is a common error to limit labor to mere muscular action. To confine the labor question to such limits is degrading it. We are speaking of the labor of man that distinguishes man from mere brute. When we talk of human labor, we mean a labor that has a motive behind it more than animal force. Man is a conscious being, with ambitions, with a desire to know from whence he came, with a bound- m 448 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT less hunger for truth. He discovers that he is not satisfied with the mere tangible world. But he longs for the eternal, the ideal of life. And, again, man is conscious of a longing for the beautiful. This has more pertinent relation to the labor question than might seem. How shall man so live as to cultivate his faculties and to attain that for which he was created? How shall we maintain our lives and pur- sue happiness? That is the labor question. It is a fallacy which I would rebuke that it is the coarser labor that is most worthy of consideration. I stand here to assert in no spirit of unkindness that that labor is most worthy into which the most brain has been put What shall we say of the man who makes a musical instrument or of a great composer or writer? To which of these shall we assign the nob- lest place in the temple of love and on the pages of history. This is the true definition of labor. It is the use of powers, whether of hand or mind. So, in- stead of being degraded by being called a laborer, we shall be outraged at not being called a laborer. The labdr question will never be practically solved until we solve the problem of the beggars and of the thieves. There is no room here in our world except for workers. We believe in a pacific policy. Vio- lence only defeats its own aims. Violence is a crime and a blunder. The labor question is, then, the ques- tion of men. It becomes the question of how we may lighten burdens and make life easier for every man or woman. It becomes a question of how we may, in increasing numbers, be able to live worthy of the God who made us. The labor question is, how shall society carry out in practice the rights which the Declaration, of Independence tells us are ours? The preamble of the Declaration of Independence should be a great comfort to every religious man and woman. Take away the idea of the brotherhood of man, and human life cannot be worked out on the principles of human justice. \ BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 449. The practical deduction of the labor question is, that men are brothers; consequently created equal. The idea of brotherhood shall be preserved. It is the doctrine of the single tax. I may as well let the se- cret out It is the primary duty of society to see that no man shall be permitted to tax his brother for benefits which he enjoys because of them. The destiny of the labor movement, I believe to be, is to restore to the people their rights; to hasten the com- ing of the day when every man shall have his rights. On Wednesday, the third day of the congress, men and women prominent in labor circles addressed 10,000 working men on the vacant field on the lake front. Bishop Fallows was the first speaker, and said in substance, as follows: The laboring men, in spite of everything that seems to be to the contrary, have got a hold on this country. Some of you think that hold is not as fast and firm as you would like to have, but I can tell you that you have a good hold, and that there is a better time coming for the laboring man. You have the ballot in your hands, and with that mighty instru- ment, intelligently used, you are the rulers of this na- tion. And you are thus rulers, not by the grace of any king or queen, but by the sovereign grace of the Father in heaven, who, as Doctor McGlynn, has said, is not a step-father to any of his children, but a true father to all. So you and I are not step-brothers, but brothers by blood and by the tie of a common cre- ation. Most of you have come here as unemployed men. You have the right to come here and to have your cry for work and for bread heeded. From causes that were beyond our control, an industrial crisis has come upon us. It is not a theory, but a condition with which we are confronted. Some of the papers have said that no signs of famine are to be seen on the faces of the men who 15 450 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT have been gathering together from day to day. Gtod forbid that we should wait until famine has graven its line deep in the faces of men who are out of em- ployment before we take measures to relieve them, for we know that unless something is done, famine must confront you. I have studied the movements in different cities in the past, of those who are unem- ployed, and I want to say, to the honor and credit of this city, that there has been a prompter responsive- ness to the need of the unemployed than I have seen elsewhere. There is a deep, deliberate, determined purpose to do all that can be done in the way of giv- ing employment to all who are seeking for it. Some distance from the place where Bishop Fal- lows was speaking, Henry George, of single-tax fame, faced the largest audience he had ever addressed. As usual, he took for his theme the land question, say- ing as follows: It seems to me that to be asked to address a meeting of the unemployed at a time like this is much like asking a pilot to take charge of a ship when in the breakers. I have for years been predict- ing just such a state of things as that now upon us, and pointing out the inevitable causes and the rem- edies. As to the immediate necessities of those in distress, I can say nothing more than any one else. All I can do is to point out the cause and state what the cure is. Unemployed labor! Men ready to work, anxious to work, and yet not able to find work! Is it not the strangest of things. Unemployed labor! Men wanting things they need and to gratify their de- sires, and unable to use the only means by which their wants can be met and their desires satisfied. There can be but one cause. What does unemployed labor mean? Does it not mean there can be no exer- tion of labor upon land? Can there be in any country BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 45 1 men not able to find an opportunity to work unless the natural element has been monopolized? There is no such thing as unemployed labor, unless it is shut out from land. The reason of this most striking phenomenon is clear. Land is acquiring higher and higher value, so that those who would employ labor must pay a higher price for it; labor and capital must get less. Here, and not in the currency question, lies the cause of depression. A steady advance sets up spec- ulation in every material of life and labor tends to crowd down the returns of producers. With every improvement there grows the value of land. From nothing, it gets to have an enormous value. The one thing that increases in value is land. He who would certainly get rich has only by some means to get land where the population is increasing, the country growing, and centers advancing. If a man were an idiot he would get rich under these circumstances. In all seasons of prosperity the effort is to get land — not to labor on it, but for profit. It seems to me that there is one explanation, if we look into the matter in a large way. Labor of itself can produce nothing. It is beyond the power of labor to bring something out of nothing. All our wealth, all that labor produces, must come from the material of nature existing before labor. Labor can produce nothing without land. Labor without land is merely a potential power, incapable of exertion. The condition of labor must always depend upon its relation to land. The moment we realize that, we have but to look over the civilized world to see the bottom of the trouble. Everywhere throughout our Western civilization, land — ^the element without which there could be no labor and no wealth, our standing place, our reservoir, our workshop — ^the hu- man being must use or he cannot exist. Land is everywhere appropriated by some, to the exclusion of others. Why is it that the laboring class all over the world is the poorer class? Is it not because the 452 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT laboring class is a disinherited class? There is the bottom of the labor question. Until we come to that we cannot accomplish anything. No human inven- tion can alter this fact, that the human being is a land animal; that he can only live on land and only work on land, and that no matter what be the form which the division of industry has given to his pe- culiar exertions, the maintenance of human life, the satisfaction of human wants, all that we call human production is, in the last analysis, an expenditure of labor on land, and that whether he be working down in the coal mine, or in the highest story of the tallest factory; whether he be opening the ground, or whether he be sailing the sea, all human production, in the last analysis, means the change of matter in form or place so as to adapt it to human satisfaction. Begin at the other end. Here we have at all times in our modem civilization great numbers of men working, and working hard, for what, compared with their production, are most insufficient wages. What is the reason for that? Why does not labor get its fair share of the product of labor? Ask one of these men who work so hard for insufficient remu- neration. He says he works because he can get nothing better; he works because he is afraid to leave his employment. Thousands of other men would be willing to come and take his place. Insufficient wages, therefore, are clearly due to the fact that there is a difficulty to find employment. What can that come from? Labor produces wealth, and until all human wants are satisfied, there cannot be any real overplus of labor. Now, therefore, at the bottom of this whole social difficulty we find the land question. The rea- son that wages are low in the higher industries is, that labor which proposes to apply itself directly to land is forced to pay a premium for the use of the land itself. Therefore, the labor question cannot be solved until you open the land to labor. You can do nothing in the way of raising the wages of men who BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 453 work for others until you raise the wages of men who work for themselves in the most primitive occupa- tions — the application of labor direct to land. In this way we can prevent speculation in land values, by speculators and monopolists, so that the man who holds a specially valuable piece of land will pay to the community in proportion to the value of the land. If we do that, then it profits no one to get land for the purpose of holding it and getting a re- turn for the mere holding of it, which produces noth- ing. We want to take the public revenues from this unearned increment of land. It is in the nature of things that land values increase with the growth of population and the advance of society. That can be seen everywhere. This increased value given to land from the growth of society should be taxed for public purposes. In this single tax idea we have the solution of how to open land to labor. If this tax were placed on land, no man would want a piece of land who could not use it, and the mere land owner — that utterly useless animal — would cease to exist Upon the subject of labor. Doctor McGlynn charged that monopoly was the reason that idle men came together on the lake front, and he addressed a sea of faces, as follows: I want to ask one question, and that is, whether the myriads of men I see before me now are working- men, beggarmen, or thieves. A witty Englishman coined this phrase, but said that there ought to be workingmen only in the world — that everyone should contribute to make this world better by his brain or brawn, mind and muscle, or by a happy conjunction of both. Unfortunately there are three classes of people in the world — workingmen, beggarmen, and thieves. The conditions should be such that every man would help to maintain the rights, and to see 454 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT that all should find an opportunity to be useful. Beg- garmen and thieves should be abolished, not by de- struction, but by being converted into useful men. All you before me now are idle men, I suppose. In these hard times men cannot afford to knock off work to listen to speeches. You are workingmen who would work if you could get something to do. When I look upon this crowd here, I think it is a terribly humiliating spectacle in this great metrop- olis of the West. By a singular and strange coinci- dence, this happens at a time when the whole world has sent its most beautiful products here, and the wonders of the human fancy, the miracles of the hu- man brain and the most subtle creatures of the hu- man mind are on exhibition in the **White City.^' At this very moment, sad to say, a vast army of unem- ployed men are meeting on the lake front seeking work amid plenty. Why are you here in this most plentifully sup- plied country? Is it because the country is overpeo- pled, or that there is nothing to work upon? It is a monstrous fallacy to assert this. Is there not more territory than is suflBcient to support all the world? Tlie true philosophy is in, the exertion of human en- ergy, and the reason you are unemployed is because you cannot get at the natural bounties; not because you have no materials to work at, but because some- thing has come between you and the materials. That something is monopoly. It is stupid to shut our eyes to the truth, that when we give undisputed ownership to natural bounties we are dragged nearer to serfdom and slavery. It is not a question of your getting a farm. The (luestion is, IIow shall you employ yourself? You want work in mechanical and artistic lines which are found in large centers of civilization only. The reason why corner lots in Chicago are so valuable, is because labor is enormously more useful here than in the countrs'. It is very i)oor comfort to say: "Go BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 455 and get a farm for nothing." It usually means that you can get nothing out of the farm. You doii^ want a farm. You can't wait until the cabbages grow. It is the utilization of natural bounties you want. Is there not room for more buildings here? Don't you need better drainage, better light, cleaner and better paved streets? It is only by your political influence, by your votes, that you can compel the abolition of monop- olies, which are maintained because of new values given by the growth of civilization, in which you have a part. Until you compel owners to pay into tlie treasury a proper equivalent for the privilege to enjoy undisturbed the possession of the lands they cherish, will your wages be reasonable. Try to vote for this at the next election. Get your representatives to put this plank in their plat- form. George E. McNeill, of Boston, said: The labor movement is born of hunger — ^hunger for food, for shelter, for warmth. The labor move- ment is the outward expression of the instinctive ap- preciation of these rights. Possession is said to be nine points of the law. In nine cases out of ten it is an evidence of theft committed, and the giving back of a beggarly part in the sacred name of charity is a confession of a guilty responsibility. The labor movement commenced with those who, by the crudest form of association, agreed to miti- gate their woes, and to resist the common oppress- ors. It has, from remote antiquity, developed along the line of the increasing aspirations, wants and de- mands of the most intelligent classes. From its dawn it has been semi-religious, semi- political, and industrial. As the ranks of the labor movement are composed of the controlled classes, they are necessarily opposed to the controllers. This 456 FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT fact explains the reason for the political side of the movement, whether under monarchical or republi- can form of government. Material civilization rests upon the want of more, regardless of the wants of others, and the de- mands for more at the cost of another's sacrifice. This sort of a ciWlization gave us Egypt, Rome, Greece and Athens. It gave us the slave trade, chat- tel slavery, and the civil war. It gives us to-day this wonderful exhibition of a labor-robbing pros- perity, magnificent buildings, time-and-cost-saving machinery and processes, club-palaces for idlers, and hovels for workers. It makes vice profitable, re- wards gambling enterprises, stultifies the moral sen- timents, laughs at religious restraints and mocks at political rectitude. The industrial system rests upon the devil's iron rule of every man for himself. Is it an unexplainable phenomenon that those who suffer most under this rule of selfishness and greed should organize for the overthrow of the deviPs sys- tem of government? The organization of laborers in trades unions recognizes the fact that mutualism is preferable to individualism. The labor movement is a self-evident fact which has sprung from human needs and aspirations, and has grown in power as animal needs developed into social needs of even greater power. So it will grow until the needs of the diviner man become the potent factor in the de- velopment of the full measure' of man's highest pos- sibilities. Men who are compelled to sell their time are slaves to their purchasers. Men who control their time to the good of others are free men. Freedom moans ability to serve others with others for the good of all. Slavery means the service with or without others to the pleasure of the class or individual. The man who produces anything that is for the good of man has a natural lien upon that product of all, as all have a social lien upon his product. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 457 The law of the labor movement may be stated to be: First, appetite; second, hunger; third, more appetite; fourth, more hunger. Inordinate appetite begets savagry, and will commit any crime to satisfy its lusts even temporarily, but, as the satisfaction of lust or inordinate appetite finally destroys appetite and the pleasure of its satisfaction, so any system based on the motives or activities of inordinate de- sire may be, and is self-destructive. Laborers re- strained by chains of iron or of superstition or of ig- norance, or by social ostracism, or political or in- dustrial dependence, are simply a pent up force that may break loose with unrestrained, destructive power. The appetite to-day is for better food, better houses, better clothes, better pleasure. The cry for more is the eternal cry. Yesterday and to-day it is with many a moan of sorrow, with many a bitter cry of anger, with some natural wish; to-morrow it will be a cry of joy. The philosophy of the labor movement teaches us that the law of common fatherhood and brother- hood that Christ proclaimed is the law of the wisest self-interest; that in mutual advancement and not self-aggrandizement is to be found the solution of the problem of how to abolish poverty, and that the or- ganization of wage workers on the historic lines of more leisure and more wages will continue until methods and interests shall unite in maintaining, sustaining and enlarging human happiness. Friday, the fifth day of the congress, was taken up with the discussion of the government ownership of railroads and the public ownership of all agencies to supply public needs. Prof. R. T. Ely, of the State University of Wisconsin, read a valuable paper on the subject of government ownership of railroads. He said: "The policy which in the United States has heretofore been pursued with respect of these under- takings has been to turn them over to private cor- 458 FOURTH BIENNIAI. REPORT porations and to encourage attempts at competition* The results of the policy are now clearly manifest. As these classes of business are non-competitive, every attempt to force competition upon them, means a waste of a great amount of capital and labor. "A second result of this policy is the enormous inequality of fortunes in the United States. A large proportion of our mammoth fortunes can be traced to ttiis false policy. "Had the post oflBce been private property we would have had a still larger number of multi-mil- lionaires, who would have absorbed a large propor- tion of the benefits of improvement in that business. A third result is a growth of artificial monopolies, and a fourth is seen in the dependence of the rest of the community upon those who furnish services or commodities of the kind which fall under the desig- nation "natural monopoly.^' With respect of those undertakings, it is not a question as to whether we shall have private competition or not, but only a question whether we shall have private or public monopoly, and public monopoly is preferred to irre- sponsible private monopoly. "The general aim in such industrial reform must be the reduction to a minimum of unearned incomes, and this general aim is in harmony with the clearly expressed views of the founders of this republic. Any effort to carry it out is pre-eminently American, while opposition is essentially un-American. A fur- ther aim which, it is claimed, the reform advocated would promote, is the elevation and purification of public life. The workingman would be affected by this reform, inasmuch as he belongs to the social body. The monopolist is not likely to be a good em- ployer of labor. If the government is the employer, then the employed have representation in the con- trolling body, ample to protect their interests. "In the hands of private corporations, men on transportation lines necessarily have grievances, be- cause of the danger to life and limb and the annoy- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 459 ances incident to management With railroads run by individuals, there are accidents and disasters which would be impossible i£ they were under gov- ernment control/^ The speaker compared the results in this country and in Oermany, and then asserted that, in addition to insuring greater safety and* se- curity under government management, the people had more confidence and reliance in the business. This idea he impressed by asserting that public ser- vice gave more dignity than private service. Henry D. Lloyd, of Chicago, presided and before introducing the speakers on Sunday evening, made the following brief address : "It is fitting that the Sunday evening of the labor congress should be given to the church. The de- claration that in the sweat of his face man should earn his bread, was more than a command; it was a promise. It was the declaratioa of the right that every man has to work, and that every man that works has a right to bread. It is fit- ting that the representatives of the spirit that gave the world that declaration should meet with us to- night to discuss why it is that everywhere, not only in the old world, outworn with struggling, but in the new world, and in the newest cities of the new world, those who have done work must beg for bread. Car- dinal Manning once said, ^Necessity knows no law, and the starving man has a right to live on his broth- er's bread,' and when he was challenged by the Lon- don Times and other priests of Baal he was able to prove that his saying had been the unbroken law of the church and was entrenched in the very ground work of truth.'' INDEX. INDEX TO SUBJECTS. Page. Letter of transmittal 21 The state capltol 19 Introduction 23 Address to the Industrial Congress of Colorado, 1894 23 Quarterly reports of the bureau 23 Unemployment, report of, March, 1893 23 Unemployment, August report of 24 Laws relating to labor compiled and issued 24 Insufficiency of appropriation 24 Collection of workmen's wages 25 Wages for thirty-five years, in periods of seven years each 26, 26 Recommendations to the Legislature 27, 28 PART I. Statistics of farms, homes and mortgages 29 Number and amount of real estate mortgages made and num- ber of acres and lots covered, 1880 to 1889, by years, in Colorado 32 Amount of interest on real estate mortgages, 1880 to 1889. ... 33 Percentage of number and amount of real estate mortgages. . 34 Average amount of real estate mortgage in Colorado; in force, January 1, 1890 85 Ratio of existing debt to value and population 35 Increase of indebtedness from 1880 to 1889 35 Annual interest charge on mortgages 86 464 INDEX. Average rate of interest on mortgages in force January 1, 1890 36 Annual interest charge on acres 36 Annual interest charged on lots 36: Statistics of manufactures relating to Colorado 36^ Denver, Pueblo and state total 36. Number of establishments reporting; value of hired prop- erty; aggregate of capital employed; value of plant; live assets; amounts paid for rent, taxes, repairs and interest; average number of employes, total wages paid; wages of males, females and children; cost of , material used, and value of product 36 Cost of producing an ounce of silver in Colorado 37-46: Production of silver in 1892; product of Lake and Pitkin counties; location of mining claims. Lake county, 1879 to 1893 37 Number of producing and number of paying mines; cost of making locations 38: Cost of obtaining patents; total cost of locations, patents and labor, exclusive of prospecting expenses 39 Total cost labor in mines and at smelters 40 Total value of silver produced 41 Average cost of an ounce of silver for Lake couHty 42 Report of like facts for Pitkin county 42-46: Smelter production first ten months of 1894; number of em- ployes and wages paid; estimate for the year 47 and 239 The Philadelphia Smelting and Refining Co 48-49 Wages and living expenses of farmers, mechanics and la- borers of Colorado 50- Collection of wages, report of bureau on 5^ Action taken by the commissioner; number of applicants; amount of claims, and recommendation that a small appropriation be made to assist indigent applicants In the prosecution of their suits 52 Average wage income and yearly expenses of women workers at Detroit, Michigan 53-59 Summary of same for the state 67 Lost time and rent paid by women workers of Michigan . 60, 61 Average wages and expenses of workers in Detroit, Sagi- naw and Grand Rapids. Mich. — Same for eight cities in Michigan 62:. INDEX. 465 Page. Wages of farm labor in the United States from 1866 to 1892 68 Results of nine inyestigations 63 Table showing variation of wages 66 Wages by the year or season; withoat bocu*d per month. .66-68 Wages .by the year or season, with board, per month 69-71 Day wages in harvest, with board 72-74 Wages in earlier years 75-100 Wages at Leeds, Mass., from 1840 to 1862 75-77 Wages, laborers, in Massachusetts, 1752 to 1865 82 to 90 Wages, farm laborers, in Rhode Island and Connecticnt. 91 Wages, farm laborers, Washington county, N. T; 92 Wages, farm laborers, New Jersey 93 to 96 Wages, farm laborers, Pennsylvania 97 Wages, farm laborers, in the Southern states 98 Wages, farm laborers, Ohio 99 to 103 Wages, fBTm laborers, Michigan 103 to 104 Wages, farm laborers, Illinois 104 Rate of wages per diem for thirty-five years, 1856 to 1891, compiled in periods of seven years each, from the re- port of Hon. T. B. Aldrich, United States Senate Com- mittee. 1893 106 to 134 Summary of same arranged with reference to work 132-134 Lost time in various occupations, 1870 to 1894; compiled from reports of labor commissioners, etc 185-186 Summary of average incomes and expenditures; expendi- tures based on percentage tables in Seventh Annual Re- port United States Commissioner of Labor 188-151 Lost time in various industries, annual earnings, etc 152-174 Average retail prices of commodities, 1860, 1872 and 1878.. 175-176 Average retail prices of commodities, 1880, 1884, 1891 177-179 Prices paid for commodities by the officer of the commis- sary general of subsistence, 1856 to 1891 180 Paid by the navy department, 1856 to 1891. . .' 181 Income and expenses of wage earners in Montana; labor commissioner's report of 1893 182-183 Income and expenses of railway employes, state of Mich- igan 184-188 Farm prices in two centuries 189 to 285 From registry of prices kept by Elisha Blackman, of Wilkesbarre, Pa., from 1770 to 1842; historical sketch of the Blackman family 189-190 466 INDEX. Page. General summary of above prices, etc 191-197 Average wages United Kingdom for the years 1830 and 1880 ; 236-287 Wages of unskilled labor, 1836 and 1886, compared with the same In the United States for 1856 and 1891 238 Smelter and mine wages, continued from page 47 239 Strikes and labor troubles In Colorado 240 to 250 Strikes at Rico, Rockvale and Creede; threatened strike on Union Pacific railway; strike at Overland cotton mills, Denver; strike on Denver & Rio Grande rail- way at Pueblo and Denver; strike of ditch workers, Denver 240 Strikes of coal miners at New Castle, Lafayette and Mesa county, Colorado 241 Strike of electricians, Denver Consolidated Electric Co 241 Lockout of miners at Cripple Creek 241-245 Attempts at arbitration 241-242 Notices posted by sheriff; collision between deputies and town officers at Altman 242 Sheriff recruits an army; movements of same and skir- mish 242-248 Governor Walte attempts to arbitrate on behalf of miners 243 Fails in first attempt 244 Signs terms of agreement June 8; forward move of the "army;" Governor Interposes the mllltla; attempt of the deputies to flank the militia frustrated 244 Deputies disbanded and militia ordered home 245 Lockout of union cigar makers of Denver 245 General strike of coal miners 245 The great "sympathetic strike" of the members of the Amer- ican Railway Union 245 to 249 United States deputy marshals sworn In at Denver 245 Orders of Marshal Israel to his deputies 245-246 Protest of Governor Walte to Hon. Moses Hallett, UMted States Judge 146-247 Arrests of suspected persons; reports of Insults and mur- der committed by United States deputies at Pueblo; strike declared off 248 INDEX. 467 Page. Railway employes forced to leave the state; followed up by information from railways where they had been employed; employment refused; investigation by the Rocky Mountain News; refusal of railway managers at Denver to re-employ strikers, causes suffering; advice of bureau to the railway managers 249 Conclusions and recommendations of United Btates Strike Commission 251, 264 Labor leaders commended for opposition to strikes as a remedy; destructlveness of strikes 261 Law of England prior to 1824 in relation to combination of workingmen; inconsistency of some employers 252 Competition suppressed by combination 253 Range of remedies suggested to the commission 254 Recommendation of specific remedies deemed premature; ask if government might not try the experiment of operating an indebted railroad 255, 256 Right of Congress to legislate on railway employment. . . . 256 Lessons of the Chicago strike; conciliation and amicable adjustment 257 Thoughts on arbitration, duties of railways and railway employes 258 Corporations oppose the efforts of legislators 259 Recommend the appointment of a tribunal of three to set- tle labor troubles 260 Authority to be conferred upon such commission 261 Trades unions to incorporate 262 Appointment of state boards of conciliation and arbitra- tion; urges employers to recognize the unions 263 PART 11. Labor commissioners' reports and what they contain. . .267 to 316 Missouri — "Tendencies" economic questions 267 The supreme danger to the republic is. plutocracy 268 The law of wages; appointment of factory inspectors 269 Massuchusetts — Number of manufactories and value of pro- duct 270 Tenement house census of Boston 271, 272 Necessity for stringent sanitary regulations 272, 274 468 INDEX. Page. Unemployed in Boston 274 Michigan— Report of ex-Commissioner Robinson; why labor bureaus were established 275 Immigration; is it desirable? answers of correspondents, arguments in favor of 276 to 282 Illinois— Workingwomen and their wages 288 The sweating system of Chicago and in the Bast.... 289, 290 Classification of shop workers 291 Special cases of uncleanliness, disease and hardship.. 293, 297 Coal in Illinois; production, etc 297 Wages, number engaged in mining, output and value — 298 Indiana— Wages of coal miners; legislative remedies: the question of insufficient wages 298, 300 A typical case, wages of laborers in the iron industry 301 Wages of common laborers; remarks by employes.. 302, 304 Wood and woolen industries 300 Coal miners of Indiana .304, 305 The cereal crop 306 New Jersey — The real wealth of a nation 307 Necessity for the study of individual needs 308 Result of the investigations of Charles Booth 808 Investigations in New York 308, 309 CiM^ital, rent, division of labor, etc 309 Futility of current legislation 811 Poverty caused by want of employment 313, 314 Origin of labor bureaus and what they should do 315, 316 Free public employment offices 316, 319 Action at the ninth national convention of the United States bureaus of labor statistics 316 Remarks of J. R. Sovereign 317 Public employment offices in Ohio, and the Ohio law. 318, 319 Woman's work and wages in New Jersey 320, 321 German method of dealing with the tramp question. 327 to 343 Pastor Von Bodelschwingh of Blelf eld 327 Labor colony at Rickllng 328 Labor colony at Bielfeld 332 Labor colonies and boarding stations. 334 Rules and regulations 835 INDEX. 469 Page. League to put down begging 38S. 386 Cost and results obtained 386, 837 Labor colony at Wilhelmsdorf 337, 338 Labor colonies of Belgium 839 Summary and deductions 340, 341 Remarks in addition to the comments of the New Re- view 341, 848 ''Royalties; What Are They?" by Commissioner Robinson of Michigan 344. 349 Timber stumpage, iron and coal royalties 346, 346 Total production of timber, coal and iron; cost of labor, share to capital, and amount paid to the land owners as royalty 846, 347 Effect if royalties accrued to the state 847 Estimated amount of royalties paid in Colorado 847 Concluding remarks 348, 849 PART III. Rent and wages; an object lesson in the labor problem 363 Comparison of recent censuses, showing increase in popula- tion 366 The check to political corruption in England 366, 367 Deaths from drink in various cities of the world 868, 369 Consumption and cost of alcoholic liquors in the United States 368 Age ratio per 1000 inhabitants for various countries 860 Estimate of unemployed persons in the United States 361, 364 The wife's contribution to the family Income 366, 876 Hostility of workingmen to women workers 866 The share performed by women not altered in amount. . 866 Woman's work, ninth and twelfth centuries 367, 369 Home work; its contribution to the Joint earnings 370, 371 What ''looking after a home" meant 160 years ago 373, 876 Colonization as a remedy for city poverty 876, 389 Drift of population to the cities 876 Country born people in London, and centers of poverty. . 877 Evil effects of city work, in draft and down draft.. 378, 879 470 INDKX. Pftge. "God ifl not in a hurry, and I am" S80 The Dutch plan of colonization 381 Cities advised to establish rural colonies and to force the "submerged tenth" to go to them 386, 387 The great cure for idleness is labor; Is this municipal socialism? 388. 389 The combination of capital ■. 390, 405 Not originally due to legislation 391 The fall in prices since 1873, one of the causes 392 Monopoly often exists where it does not appear 393 Combination in industry is to be permanent 394, 396 Monopolies may work evil unless regulated; how 396, 402 The point for society to aim at 402 Three schemes proposed 403, 404 Conclusions 404, 405 How they check useless litigation in Norway 406, 411 A year's trial of the eight-hour law in England 412, 422 Conditions of the experiment 412, 414 Results 415,416 Lost time 416 Piece work 417, 418 Comment on the results 419. 422 Baron Hirsch's colonization scheme 422, 426 State farms in New Zealand 426, 428 England's labor commission, to inquire into the causes for for the impoverishment of the work^s, and to suggest remedies therefor 429, 432 The philosophy of mutualism; the social ideal must be co- operative 433. 440 Laundries in Great Britain; necessity for inspection of... 441, 443 Addresses to the World's Labor Congress 444, 459 Paper by Lady Emilia Dilke; read by Kate Field 444 Address by Herbert Burrows, of London 445 Paper read by Mrs. Helen Campbell, of New York 446, 447 Address by Rev. Dr. McGlynn 447, 448 Address of Bishop Fallows 449 Address of Henry George 449. 463 Dr. McGIynn's second address 463, 465 INDEX. 471 Page. Address of Oeorge E. McNeill, of Boston 465, 467 Paper by Prof. R. T. Ely, on government ownership of railways and other public agencies of supply 457, 458 Opening address by Henry D. Lloyd, of Chicago 459 THE st: COUNTY ATTORNEY 3T. ATTORNKY SUPBRINTHNDBNT OF SCHCOI^ G. L. Hndflon J. P. Spkkard H. M.Miner BzimC. Nowds.... Oms. M. Rigley... J. T. McNedy P.B.Webster jc. H. Pairall G. K. Hartenatein. T.B. MacDonald.. I . ^ A. R. King I W. H. Davis - W. A. WillianiB . ! H. M. Blackmer. I h. R. ThonuM... I 1 C. n. Waldo.. 8. W.Janes .. awithrow... J. I^. Hodges . n^. Steele Gtfiller j^arrigues .jO Hitt GO Hitt j/oUaday , TCerriman , J^wn HEoUaday Blerriman BUI Aiiken aray j^hrmn Cjiller -^hran A^vysalinan Dchran pfolladay San Auken j«n Auken 1^ Johnstone A. D. Shepard P. A. Byrne G. L. Harding 8. B. Vanderen Jno. A. Murphy J.W.Scott A. G. B. Maddoz I. P.Jones John 8. Kilgore D. B. Newcomb A. B. Barker Prank W. Robinson Prank D. Ball Jos. W. 0*Bannon Clarence O. Pinch Josiah Tippett C. P. lindsley Alired Durfee W. H. Throckmorton Robt. A. Campbell Pred, C. Childs ' raf^ •ft V i raij • • f h i/« 1 U • * ri,^ 1 I - • 4 fib 4 1899 %^^ ^ ^eB